where there is fire

in the works

2009-07-13T23:25:00.002-04:00

i'm going to start using this blog again, but it probably won't be as strictly music related as it used to be. first off, I have a ton of old photos from shows that I'm getting up on flickr that i will post a best of set ...

ATTN hipsters: vinyl is losing its obscure indie points

2008-01-14T14:07:00.000-05:00

The word is out ... according to Time Magazine: vinyl is actually cool again. Since this is Time Magazine that we are talking about, it is no longer obscurely cool to buy new vinyl and steal your parents' old records. This is a big problem for all us hipsters. I guess we'll have to do the 8 track thing for a while, and when that wears out ... Edison wax cylinders? This semi-joking drift aside, definitely check out the article ... by the sound of it, the world of vinyl is on the rise. I say that's a good thing. (The picture is an old attempt at a header for the blog).

[link] Time Magazine: Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back

beach house and high places @ the sugar tank

2008-01-11T01:41:00.000-05:00

Well, Lancaster is half decent again as of Sunday the 6th, thanks to a new artist collective/warehouse space called The Sugar Tank. (The Chameleon Club stopped having good shows years ago ... if you're not from central PA, ignore these first 2 sentences.) If you don't know Beach House ... you'd better get on that, and see them live ASAP too. I've linked to "Gila" below which is on their new (and really good) album Devotion out February 26. As far as High Places, they are from Brooklyn and you can tell ... in the best way possible. They put on a really fun live show complete with constant, pounding bass, multitudes of percussion, and bounding melodies - whether it be on recorder or synth. Oh, and my top album list for 2007 ... still coming soon ... lists are so overrated.

[mp3] Beach House - Gila
[link] Beach House on myspace

[mp3] High Places - Shared Islands
[link] High Places on myspace

Neal's Top 21 of 2007

2008-01-07T15:46:00.000-05:00

ok kids, so its that time of year. What time of year is that do you ask? Well, Top 10 time of course! And not to be left out this is my top 21 of 2007.

Note: this top 21 is NOT of albums that came out in 2007, nor are they in order from most favorite to least favorite, although they may be. It is more of a list of awesome music I have been listening to in 2007...

21.)ecstatic sunshine - living

20.)the arcade fire - neon bible

19.)the talking heads - sand in the vaseline jar

18.)television - marquee moon

17.)the misfits

16.)low - drums and guns

15.)boredoms - seadrum/house of sun

14.)mount eerie - pts. 6 & 7

13.)tim hecker - harmony in ultraviolet

12.)soft circle - self titled

11.)panda bear - person pitch

10.)deerhoof - friend opportunity

9.)tara jane o'neil - after a dark seven

8.)the besnard lakes - are the dark horse

7.)raccoo-oo-oon - behold secret kingdom

6.)animal collective - strawberry jam

5.)battles - mirrored

4.)lucky dragons - dark falcon

3.)casanets - in the vines

2.)akron/family - love is simple

1.)dirty projectors - rise above

anatomy of a leak

2008-01-04T12:42:00.000-05:00

There was a really cool article in New York Magazine earlier this week with a brief inside look at advance CD leaks and also comments on the evolving nature of the music industry. Take a look:

[link] New York Magazine - Ripped to Shreds

long time coming

2007-12-28T09:53:00.000-05:00

Hello again, you few, but loyal readers. I'm just stopping in to post a few links and make some empty promises. The second half of my semester turned out to be rather busy and the blog got pushed into some dark, dusty corner.

I'll start off with some shameless self-promotion: cCoOmMpPuUtTeErR iIsS aA rRoOoOmM with j.s. makkos is completely finished and I'm headed to Cleveland later today for our small and unofficial CD release show. If you are in the area, check out languagefoundry.org for more information. I'll have another track or two up on my Virb account within the next week or so (virb.com/wherethereisfire) and sometime in the next month there will be some means of purchasing the album online through Paypal if you are interested. In other Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline news, Neal and I will may be doing some recording in the next week, so look for a track or two from that vein on the Virb as well.

My best of 2007 list is in the works and will be up sometime in January. If you are itching to find out what could be on my list, a friend of mine from State College has list up and a few of his albums will definitely be on my list as well.

[link] britches11596 - Top 20 Albums of 2007

Neal has also had a few posts on his blog over the past month or so that you should check out, especially if you are into noise (Pink and Brown, Lucky Dragons, etc).

[link] (kidsmoke) - Neal's mp3 blog

the music, as opposed to the blog

2007-10-23T19:56:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, I also compose music under the name Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline. I've had an album (Computer is a Room) in the works with a poet from Cleveland - j.s. makkos, and it's now finished, slated for release sometime in November. Anyway, I have a song up on my Virb now, so if you are into spoken word backed by ambient electronica, then you definitely need to listen. If not, you should probably still check it out.

[link] Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline on Virb
[link] Language Foundry - Cleveland arts collective which j.s. is involved with

in rainbows

2007-10-10T20:19:00.000-04:00

I'll have a full review of this up within a week or so ... I've got a lot of chewing to do. Inititally (with the 6 or so listens I've had so far), I really like the album. I realize many people paid for this download via the website and you can too if you like (inrainbows.com), but for those that want to judge it before they decide to drop $81 on the discbox (it's looking more and more like I will when I have $81 to spend) and don't feel like going through the site ... here are two links to download the zip of the 10 160 Kbps mp3s:

~~[Sendspace]~~
~~[Rapidshare]~~

By the way, the bridge of "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" really sounds like Broken Social Scene. Did anyone else find themselves making the eerie comparison on the first listen?

andrew bird

2007-10-03T13:22:00.000-04:00

Everyone's favorite whistling violinist played the State Theatre here in State College on Monday night. I can't really comment too much on the show because I was only able to catch the last 30 minutes, but what I did see was definitely worth my money. Andrew Bird is still on tour and I'd recommend going to see him if he's coming through your area. If you haven't heard Mr. Bird, check out "Heretics" off his most recent release, Armchair Apocrypha.

[mp3] Andrew Bird - Heretics

phosphorescent

2007-10-01T00:24:00.000-04:00

Associations like "the next Bob Dylan" have been thrown around about Matthew Houck, and his new album Pride is another step in that direction. He calls himself (and friends) Phosphorescent - if there has ever been a more eerily dead-on band name, I can't think of it right now. Phosphorescent evokes eerily warm and beautiful folk anthems from the dark world around, not unlike the natural phenomenon of the same name. The organic, wonderfully minimal folk accompaniment envelopes and intertwines with Houck's frailly stoic voice sitting somewhere between campfire improvisation and the soundtrack to soaring through the clouds in a dream. My attempts to explain the truly magnificent feeling of Pride can't even do it justice. You'll have to hear for yourself - it will be released on October 23 via Dead Oceans.

[mp3] Phosphorescent - A Picture of Of Our Torn Up Praise from the forthcoming Pride

Phosphorescent also did a Daytrotter session back in May and there are four tracks available for download; you should read the interview as well. Also, sorry about the lack of posts this week. If you accept excuses ... exams.

dan deacon + girl talk @ 2640 space

2007-09-20T18:15:00.000-04:00

Gregg Gillis, or as we know him - Girl Talk, should be everyone's hero. A couple months ago, he began to get enough requests for Girl Talk gigs that he decided to leave his biomedical cubicle for good. Now you can see him, fully bearded and behind his laptop, any night of the week ... like this past Tuesday, with Dan Deacon and White Williams. Baltimore electronica superstar Dan Deacon and Girl Talk (I won't comment on White since I've never seen or heard him - arrived too late on Tuesday) are hell of a combination for a show, especially if you like being drenched in sweat and completely exhausted from dancing when the night's up. Tuesday night's show was no exception. I'm not exactly sure what the deal is with the 2640 space, but it's a church about 3 blocks from landmark Baltimore venue, Ottobar. The show was promoted by Wham City, Monozine, and the tickets were sold through MissionTix (an Ottobar related entity), so if you're familiar with the Baltimore scene at all ... that's a bit of weird cooperation going on, but they show went great and Beach House and Grizzly Bear will be playing the 2640 space on October 13th. I don't really have too much to say about Girl Talk or Deacon, other than, if you don't listen to both of them, start now, because they will both change your life forever.

[mp3] Girl Talk - Smash Your Head
[mp3] Dan Deacon - Crystal Cat

dirty projectors + jens lekman

2007-09-17T14:17:00.001-04:00

East Coast nomads turn international superstars saw the release of their newest, and most conceptually imaginative release, last week on Dead Oceans. Rise Above rose out of the at first outlandish idea of doing some Black Flag covers completely from memory. No tabs, no lyrics sheets, no re-listening, so at 11 tracks strong, Rise Above is much more a re-imagined album built from the cassette tapes still echoing in mastermind and frontman Dave Longstreth's head. You can hear the signature mix of avant garde, punk, folk, and so much more that makes up The Dirty Projector's sound in "Depression" from Rise Above. Be sure to visit their myspace for info on their current tour and where to pick up the new album.

[mp3]The Dirty Projectors - Depression

Swedish crooner Jens Lekman's second studio effort, Night Falls Over Kortedala, is due out October 9 in the US on Secretly Canadian. The new record seems a bit more upbeat and orchestrated ... I kind of liked sad, sappy Jens a little better but I'll get used to it. Here's "I'm Leaving You Because I don't Love You" off the new album filled with great samples, plunky piano, and a faint, but funky bassline. Oh and of course, Jens' wonderful and distinctive voice.

[mp3]Jens Lekman - I'm Leaving You Because I Don't Love You

Around America: Help This Guy Out

2007-09-17T00:04:00.000-04:00

So one of my friends here in State College has been asking around this week if anyone in our circle of friends could drive him to Wilkes Barre to pick up a guy he knows that is traveling around America and documenting his journey on a video blog. I'm not sure who he convinced to go earlier today, but the alleged traveler, Matt, is here in State College tonight. One of the aims of his project is to disprove that the blogging/internet community is a closed, exclusive, and unfriendly one. I'm going to meet him in an hour or so, and I'd be grateful if you would check out his website. If you can help him on his journey, please do - he's a great guy with an outstanding vision.

[link] Around America in 2.0 >> About
[link] Matt's Flickr Photos

READ, LOOK, we're back + Whartscape Photos

2007-09-16T22:19:00.000-04:00

I would like to apologize to the 10 of you that have been asking me when I am going to update the blog and my incessant answer of "oh, in a week or two." Well this week is the week that I shall be returning to the weekly post (if not more). I figured I'd make it more of an occasion and change up the layout a bit too.

I decided to start using my flickr account, and to streamline things, I'm going to start embedding slideshows of my show pictures with the use of a really cool widget called PictoBrowser. I am kind of in love with how sleek it looks and how much easier it is that me having to put in each picture in explain it. If you guys as readers don't like it, post a comment and I'll look for a different photo posting solution.

Whartscape (July 19-21, 2007)

WHARTSCAPE!

2007-08-19T20:09:00.000-04:00

I know its late..but here it is!!!

Whartscape music festival is Wham City's contribution to Baltimore's larger Artscape festivities. If you haven't heard of Wham City (which is unlikely because they've been gaining notoriety like wildfire) they are a art collective out of Baltimore. Started by Dan Deacon, Wham City has been hosting absurdest art events for more than a few years now. So, as almost all other Wham City events, Whartscape was hot, loud, intense and AWESOME! There is no way Sean and I could do all of the bands justice even if we had got to see them all but here are the many, many highlights of the weekend.

FRIDAY

WZT HEARTS
Sean And I showed up just before Wzt Hearts started their set. If you haven't heard of Wzt Hearts any you are any kind of a fan of noise music you should check them out. As if two laptops blipping, bleeping, buzzing and blurring isn't enough to make you feel like your tripping in some kind of weird hyper modern wasteland, then add some pounding drums and hoots and hollers that sound like you've stumbled upon a tribal gathering, and the total effect is one that will make your hairs stand up on end. Wzt Hearts really feels like modern music being made in response to modern times. Oh and did I mention their set was great?

WZT HEARTS - myspace

THANK YOU
It seems like every time I see Thank You they get better. Really, I think it just me being too reluctant to open my ears. Thank You's gittery rock knows how to shoot what its aiming at. Thank You's open and spastic but steady sound is just approcahable enough to keep you listening and just wierd enough to keep you interested. They, like so many of the bands at Whartscape, played and awesome set. The stand out of seeing them is definitely their drummer. Never have I seen a lady thrash on drums like Thank You's fine drummer (who's name I cant seem to find anywhere)

THANK YOU - live @ Whartscape (as recorded by Baltimore Taper)

GROWING
Growing is a aptly named band. Live, their swirling soundscapes, pulse around you and the room seems to be, well, growing. I had seen them once before when they opened for mogwai but their set at Whartscape was significantly different. I remember thinking their set sounded more 'soul of the rainbow' than 'color wheel', although with a band like Growing I'm sure live performances are loose and can sound very different from the records. regardless their set was great and a nice contrast to alot of the more "Baltimore sounding" bands.

GROWING - epochemal renissance (exerpt) (from heart of the rainbow)

ECSTATIC SUNSHINE
Since the first time I saw the sunshine a few years ago a lot of things have happened. They have since released a record on Carpark records and toured around the country. As we all know when you add time and experience you get change and that's exactly what Ecstatic Sunshine has done. This guitar duo's live performances are significantly noiseier, using distortion and looping much more heavily than before. I don't dislike their new sound but it doesn't seem to have the unbridled energy of songs like 'Tuscan'. Having said that, the sound does feel more mature and I'm sure we will only see great sunshiny things form this thrashing duo.

ECSTATIC SUNSHINE - live @ Whartscape (as recorded by Baltimore Taper)

SOFT CIRCLE
I had been introduced to Soft Circle a few months ago by a friend of mine. I listened to Full Bloom a few times and just found it seeping to me. Full Bloom is a weird yet intensely moving album that is very tribal sounding yet somehow still sounds very urban and modern. His live show is no less engaging than the cd. This Ex-Black Dice member's soundscapes feel like they fill your skull to the brim with some kind of life force. Plus watching a guy play drums, guitar and sing at the same time is always amazing.

SOFT CIRCLE - myspace

more whartscape soon...with real pictures!

lost:ghosts

2007-06-24T23:26:00.001-04:00

So I know neither Sean nor I have posted for quite some time. Keep an eye out for post and pics of Panda Bear, WZT Hearts, Ponytail, The Death Set and Enjoy Your Canary. In the meanwhile check out lost:ghost:records Chris Day recently started lost:ghosts to release limited edition releases by people who make worthwhile music. I would also like to say in a moment of shameless self promotion that the musical escapades of Brendan Sullivan and myself are being released in the form of a self-titled cd-r on lost ghosts. The packaging is all hand printed and is super high quality. Chris is also an amazing artist so check out the lost:ghosts website. You wont be sorry.

lost:ghosts:records

The Books & Todd Reynolds

2007-04-18T22:07:00.000-04:00

The Books have been one of my favorite artists ever since I heard "enjoy your worries, you may never have them again". They have been on my list of 'artists to see before I die' for quite some time and last night I had that pleasure. They played a great set including my favorite song "Smells Like Content". They also did a fantastic cover of Nick Drake's "Cello Song". Each song had an accompanying video that will be released on DVD by the end of the month. The videos were funny and great, in a really subtle way. The Books are by far one of the most creative acts out there right now, no matter what kind of music you are into. If you are not familiar with their music, do your self a favor and purchase some. And if you are already a fan of The Books, the you know what I'm talking about, and are probably as excited as I am to get my hands on that DVD.

The Books- Smells Like Content live

Todd Reynolds was the opening act. I hadn't heard any of Reynolds music previously, which is basically him playing violin and using a loop pedal. He is a phenomenal violinist, in some ways it reminded me of Eluvium but not as ambient. All I can really say is I didn't think he was spectacular, but Todd Reynolds is definitely worth checking out.

Todd Reynolds- "Walkin'"

decemberist, my brightest diamond, backlog

2007-04-02T17:39:00.000-04:00

Here's a backlog of the shows I've been to in the recent past that I haven't posted about and a few pictures/songs for each.

3/31 The Decemberist and My Brightest Diamond
2/17 Anathallo
2/10 Sam Beam and David Bazan
2/9 Yo La Tengo and The Rosebuds

I have to admit I haven't listened to The Decemberists since last September, and that was giving the new record a second and third chance. I used to consider myself a Decemberists fan, and I'd say after this show, I would again. First off, the opened with Shiny and closed with The Tain, my two favorite Decemberists songs. Second, sure you can call them folk, alt-country, etc, etc, but a good deal of this show was straight up rock and roll. This may have been due to the fact I was standing in front of guitarists Chris Funk's amplifier. If you saw the guitar-off spurred by the green screen challenge on the Colbert Report, you might have a better idea of what I'm talking about. Their stage presence made this a great show. Although he had his moments, gone is the Colin Meloy of mostly acoustic historically accurate lullabies. I would not be surprised if their next move was a rock opera. Funk and drummer Nate Query made their way into the crowd near the end of the set, random percussion implements in hand, for some sort of impromptu Battle of Gettysburg re-enactment ... I'm not sure what that was about, but it was funny.

[mp3] The Decemberists - Shiny
[video] Stephen Colbert vs. The Decemberists: 2nd Green Screen Challenge

If you read my top 10 of 2006, you may already realize that I love My Brightest Diamond. Her opening set was absolutely intense. Her voice was unwavering, hitting every note as precisely as the record. Shara Worden was joined by equally energetic drummer and bassist, so three strong, the set lacked the orchestration and sprawling arrangements of Bring Me the Workhorse. Even so, it was nothing short of amazing.

[mp3] My Brightest Diamond - Something of an End

And as I had mentioned ... some backlogging.

I actually got pictures of Anathallo this time in Pittsburgh. Their set was nearly identical to the fall show. There's not much I can really say other than they were great as always.

Sam Beam and David Bazan at Messiah College ... sitting room only. For some reason Sam Beam (of Iron and Wine) thought it would be a good idea to sit. Sure it was more intimate, but rather uncomfortable. The setlist included quite a few songs from the new record due this fall, which sounded very promising. David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion) is so much cooler in the first place. Two covers were the highlight of his set: Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) and L'Amour Stories (Deerhoof). I asked him to play song A but he dissappointed me.

[video] David Bazan - Hallelujah (live @ Messiah College)
[video] David Bazan - L'Amour Stories (live @ Messiah College)

And then Yo La Tengo ... another record that made my top 10. This was an amazing show - two and a half hours of garage punk, avante garde soundscapes and everything in between. They played a lot from the new record ... pretty much a lot of everything. only they did not play my favorite song - Little Eyes. Even so, they should make the "must see before I die" list for each and every one of you reading this.

download: explosions 9:30 set

2007-03-26T16:59:00.000-04:00

NPR's All Songs Considered recorded the entire sets of all three bands at the aforementioned Explosions in the Sky, Eluvium, and Paper Chase show on March 17. You can read my review here and you can stream or download the whole show on the NPR site. The NPR mp3s contain the entirety of each set as one file with no setlist. I've cut the Explosions set up into songs and tagged each one. Each song was cut and re-assigned from the original file, so there was no transcoding back to wav or re-encoding as mp3. Basically, the original sound quality has been maintained for those of you that care. I saw on the Temporary Residence message board that some people were complaining about the sound at the show, but I thought it was great both that night and in the recording. So download, unzip, and enjoy!

Setlist:
1. First Breath After Coma
2. Welcome, Ghosts
3. The Only Moment We Were Alone
4. Greet Death
5. What Do You Go Home To?
6. Your Hand in Mine
7. Catastrophe and Cure
8. Memorial

[zip] Explosions in the Sky - 3/17 @ 9:30 Club (link on Sendspace download page)

The Greatest City In America?

2007-03-23T19:28:00.000-04:00

So, there is this bench I can see from my bedroom window and painted on it in old crappy paint it says “BALTIMORE: the greatest city in america”. Im not so sure if I agree with that but Baltimore does have alot to offer in terms of independent music. Although many of the musical acts from baltimore are gaining popularity (most notably Ponytail and Dan Deacon), the majority of the Baltimore scene is still relatively unknown to anyone outside the charm city. Who are just a few of these lesser known? Lets take a look.

Ecstatic Sunshine

Never before has a band been so appropriately named. This guitar duo’s spastic rock is like a tour of the universe. See the meteors crashing into each other? Oh, look at that black hole! And the rings of Saturn! Did you see how quickly that white dwarf imploded? Open you ears to ecstatic sunshine and let them show you around.

[mp3] Ecstatic Sunshine- Little Dipper Big Dipper

OCDJ

Ok, so he’s actually from New Jersey, but he is a favorite in the Baltimore scene. One part rap top 40 radio, one part 8 bit nintendo soundtrack, 100% Dance-until-you-pass-out. Check it out.

[mp3] OCDJ- Pls stp th hstl

Coconuts

You just cant kill a classic. I mean, sure the drum and insanley-distorted-bass thing has been done before, but I mean, so has everything else. Coconuts knows how to bring the heat. From Alex Dundero’s ADD drumming to Jeff Dundas’s slick, kick you in the face bass lines, this duo makes Iggy Pop look like a pussy.

[link] Coconut's myspace

Thrust Lab

Thrust Lab is one of the better IDM groups I have heard in a long time. The beats are tight. The bass lines are fresh. The keys are sweet. Check out “Dance Sweet Dracula” for an example of the way they mix the ever popular 8 bit sound with IDM style.

[link] Thrust Lab's myspace

There are MANY more Baltimore acts that I hope to highlight in the following months. These should suffice to fulfill your ADD, sugar-addicted musical escapades for the time being.

BTTLS!

2007-03-21T20:09:00.000-04:00

I don't care who you are, you have to admit loop pedals are pretty cool. And when a band actually uses them to their full potential its even better. Now, what if this said band not only knew how to use the pedals they had but had TONS of them. It would probably be a mind bending, head bobbing experience. So Its no surprise that seeing the experimental, noise-rock outfit BATTLES was exactly that. I haven't seen so many gizmos in all my life. BATTLES does what they do well, and with class. Why not have the drums in the front and the guitarist in the back? Why not have the keyboard so close to the drums the drummer can hit it? Why not have the cymbal up as high as it can go? There is really no good reason why people haven't thought of these things sooner, but BATTLES is about as experimental as they come. And best of all, they do it well.

Check out the video for Atlas, and note the cymbal.

[video] Battles - Atlas (youtube)

explosions in the sky 3/17 @ 9:30 club

2007-03-21T16:51:00.000-04:00

I ever so affectionately refer to these guys as 'plosions, and I think my subliminal reasoning is that even a name as epic as Explosions in the Sky will not begin to explain them. Their set was absolutely surreal. The show was sold out and the club was packed, but I'm sure these 4 Texans could care less. It seemed that each was completely engulfed in his own construct of an ideal reality, and was expressing that through his instrument. And somehow everything completely matches up, pulling the audience into an amalgamated utopia of their own. I admit their songs are so simple but go so much further beyond the bastardized quiet/loud, crescendo to wall of sound write-off some skeptics give them. I hope others would agree that "Your Hand in Mine" was the highlight of the set. The setlist was comprehensive, and I do not see how anyone could complain about the absence of any song.

Opener, Eluvium, was nearly as impressive. Despite the fact that half his catalog is strictly piano compositions, his live performance built up loop after loop, each managing to float in the balance of the others, comprising more of an ethereal shove than a wall of sound. And then there was The Paper Chase. I do not recommend them whatsoever. Sorry to those that may like them, but I thought their live show was nearly unbearable.

[mp3] Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine
[mp3] Eluvium - Prelude for Time Feelers

neal is officially on board

2007-03-20T19:44:00.000-04:00

Like Sean said in the last post, I'm posting here now, so heads up.

raising expectations ... news

2007-03-09T02:04:00.000-05:00

I hope we all agree, although 14 year old girls and their stalkers can tolerate it, myspace is terrible. I can't bring myself to use it very often, much less actually log on. But there is hope! Maybe. So purevolume was obviously a little better, but it never caught on. Now there is VIRB. It just went public, profiles are viewable by non-members, and the invites were done away with and now a limited number of people can join a day. So please, stop clinging to your ad-filled, disorganized, aesthetic nightmare of a myspace and join virb. The layout is so clean and simple; the word just needs spread.

The Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline virb site has a demo recording of a new track - Pitch, Yaw, Roll.

In other news, Neal, of the aforementioned project Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline may be joining me in posting to the blog. He jumped onto the blogging ship a little bit ago with Kid Smoke Kid, and we've talked about making Where There is Fire a 2 contributor blog. So keep an eye out for that.

Continuing on the subject on our band Where There is Fire ..., I don't really have a news and progress outlet other than this blog right now, since I'm too annoyed to do anything with the myspace. This will change because of the virb page which I plan to use in full. Continuing ... on the web front, a formal website for the project may be in the makings, including a store with upcoming releases. I am doing a collaborative piece with Cleveland poet, Joe Makkos which will release in mid April. I am also working on another project remixing Baltimore's Maps (formerly Joseph Albers Experiment) songs which should release in April or May. Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline's first formal album might begin recording this summer and release ... eventually. More news to come. And I promise I'll just mention it in the future as opposed to using the blog for news itself.

Also to come in the blog: one or two more looks back to 2006 and the best of the best that didn't make my top ten, and the worst of the worst.

Upcoming Album Reviews: Arcade Fire - Neon Bible, Lovedrug - Everything Starts Where It Ends, and Lewis & Clarke - Blasts of Holy Birth.

Hass Been's and To Be's #1

2007-02-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

Two of the worst albums of 2006:
The Knife - Deep Cuts, Silent Shout
80's throwback is one thing, but traveling back in time, making an album with the best coked out B-rate producer you can find, and then traveling back to the future and releasing it in 2006 is another. I mean sure it's poppy in a 1986 sense, but I can't sense a modern element of creativity in it at all. I never even took the time to listen to Silent Shout in its entirety, but I'm sure it's terrible. I don't get it ... but I can find a small amount of respect for The Knife by the fact that Jose Gonzalez covered "Heartbeats" which is a phenomenal song. I just wish he wrote it.

Will be on top 10 lists in 2007:
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (March 13, 2007)
They're back and better than ever. Some songs are in the typical LCD style: short, noxious, and to the point. But for the most part this album sprawls. Everything is climactic and has epic buildups. And every single layer has intense attention to detail. Every loop and synth in this album is tweaked to perfection and it is catchy. Unexpectedly catchy ... when was the last time you heard a 6 minute song that completely held your attention span? "Someone Great" is one of my favorites down to every last sample, filter sweep, and synth tweak.

And don't you dare compare LCD Soundsystem to The Knife. Because there is no comparison worth considering.

LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great (yousendit valid until 2/17)

Read my best of 2006 if you didn't yet ... it's right down there vvv

Best of 2006 ... finally

2007-02-05T13:59:00.000-05:00

Choosing the 10 best albums of the calendar year of 2006, or any year for that matter, is an extremely fickle beast. There are albums I absolutely adore that aren’t particularly innovative or overly creative and there are albums that are musically revolutionary that I didn’t care for. The moral of the story is, what conditions do you set “best” relative to? I ended up evaluating albums with a balance of subjective and objective criteria.

I thought some of the highly lauded albums of the past year were a great deal smoke and fog. Return to Cookie Mountain (TV on the Radio) is an example of an album that was great, but in a lot of ways, I saw it as a sophomore slump. In the case of Ys (Joanna Newsom), there was an enormous growth musically and compositionally, but the non-orchestrated ~~“Monkey and Bear”~~ (EDIT - I meant "Sawdust and Diamonds," thanks for pointing that out to me Kleeb) stood out to me as the strongest song on the album. Broken Boy Soldiers (The Raconteurs) was an onslaught of great songs, but it was just another Jack White project, falling short of The White Stripes. And the list goes on, varying from person to person…

This monotony, repetition, and overexertion is obvious on a lot of albums, but the subjectivity lies in the interpretation of where these qualities are positive and progressive. Quite of few of the albums from my possibles list several posts ago fall into this grey area. Some emerged from it, and others still wallow in it. Within the next couple of weeks I’ll evaluate some of these albums that didn’t make the cut and why. Now on to the albums that made it.

1. Tortoise – A Lazarus Taxon

Highlight Songs: Gamera, Why We Fight

Excuse my semi-stereotypical simile, but Tortoise is to me like Dave Matthews Band is to a frat boy. Anything can be set to Tortoise, immediately mesh, and be enhanced. A Lazarus Taxon is 3 discs and a DVD, which some might argue exempts it from the top albums list, but not for me. Additionally it’s a sort of best of, b-sides, and remix compilation. I don’t care. Tortoise is some of the most simplistically creative, complexly droning, and absolutely inspired music to stem from the constant evolution of “rock” over the past 15 years. Sitting at the other end of the spectrum from Talk Talk in the genesis of post rock, you can’t get more original than Tortoise. This entire set is anthemic in the most non-anthemic way possible. There’s a theme song for any and everything within there 3 discs.

2. Chad VanGaalen – Skelliconnection

Highlight Songs: Flower Gardens, Gubbish

I have a feeling that Chad Vangaalen is that guy who sits in his basement studio and records music he thinks no one else will like. His music is really weird, but also quirky, ingeniously poppy, and haunting. Skelliconnection makes such a mess of genres that I have no idea what to classify it as other than indie (becoming more indescript, day by day, 10 years and running). Everything about this album has a soundtrack feel to it, but I have no idea what the movie could even be about. Every time I hear something new from Chad it makes excited to hear what he’ll be doing next. His progression is intriguing; I feel that the only thing in common between some of his songs is hearing his voice, but yet there is definitely some sort of non-precise common thread between his songs … moreso lyrically, but also musically.

3. Thom Yorke – The Eraser

Highlight Songs: Atoms for Peace, Harrowdown Hill

No. This is not just a solid album without the rest of Radiohead. It’s a unique stage where Thom can showcase his oddity in a semi-divergent manner from the outlet of Radiohead. In case you didn’t notice in your unenchanted listening to this album of Radiohead minus most of the musical component, the vocals are nearly devoid of the effects and reverb present in the majority of Radiohead tracks. Thom’s voice is truly amazing on “Atoms for Peace,” an element that never rears its head in such a way within the entity of Radiohead. Pads, guitars, and beats are all glitchy, hauntingly melodic, and lie in a perfect balance of mechanized and organic. The personal implications of this album for myself are huge … also being a self-proclaimed artist of the “laptop rock” variety. I see no reason why everyone shouldn’t love this album.

4. Jeremy Enigk – World Waits

Highlight Songs: A New Beginning/Been Here Before, Cannons

Enigk’s voice is one of my all time favorites. Everywhere in between his whispered lullabies and strained, impassioned cries, he never ceases to throw his entire self into vocal expression. Moving past the vocals, the entire album sounds meticulously and carefully orchestrated. Attention to no detail is spared … and this vigilance is well heard. The opening track “A New Beginning” is a great testament to my former observation. It’s completely rocking out; you can feel the emotion. On a sidenote: Enigk was featured in “O, Porcupine” off mewithoutYou’s lastest record, and the way he sings make we wonder what’s to come from Enigk. His vocals are blood-chilling, and I hope to hear him sing in the same manner in the near future on new material.

5. My Brightest Diamond – Bring Me The Workhorse

Highlight Songs: Golden Star, Magic Rabbit

I didn’t hear even a hint of any indication of a female Jeff Buckley in any of the background vocals on Sufjan Steven’s Illinoise, but apparently it was hiding in there somewhere. When you give Shara Worden, of slight Illinoisemaker fame, the spotlight, the comparison to Buckley becomes obvious. A classically trained composer and opera singer doesn’t seem to out of place on the ever eclectic Asthmatic Kitty label, but Worden definitely sets herself apart. Obviously indie and operatic, her sound begs so many descriptions. The certain depth and darkness of her voice is what pulls in the Buckley comparison, and it is definitely well merited. The album sounds big, maybe a bit overproduced, but I’d say it’s a great and captivating sound for a debut. I, for one, am hooked and can’t wait to hear more.

6. Yo La Tengo – I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass

Highlight Songs: Black Flowers, The Story of Yo La Tengo

I have to admit that any Yo La Tengo album released will make my top 10 for that year. They can’t do wrong. And they’ve enhanced this addition to your collection with attractive 10 and 11 minute bookends to make it all the better. A long, sprawling last track is a given for many bands like Yo La Tengo, and although the first track my seem unnecessary in length, it is completely unobtrusive to the album. All tracks are fashioned in the beautifully quirky Yo La Tengo fashion sitting somewhere between sleepily ambient and sugar-sweet pop. If there was ever a band that combined equal parts Broken Social Scene, Belle & Sebastian, Brian Eno, and Elliott Smith, and made a perfect album, that album would have been I Am Not Afraid…. I feel a lot of familiarity and done before vibe (by both YLT and others) in this album, but it’s in an extremely positive way. In so many ways it is a perfect album where so many others have fallen one step short.

7. The Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics

Highlight Songs: Free Radicals, The W.A.N.D.

At War With The Mystics is much more than mediocre, and if you don’t think much of it, it’s because you liked Yoshimi and The Soft Bulletin too much. This album was released at the wrong time, preventing a lot of people from appreciating the genius that At War With The Mystics is. It was just the right amount of time for the timelessness of the previous two albums to sink in and dictate the mindset that the next Flaming Lips album needed to be interpolated precisely from the progression from Soft Bulletin to Yoshimi. The Flaming Lips went out on a limb and exceeded the parameters of the interpolation by far. People weren’t ready for this and all but rejected the new album. I venture to say that it is a damn solid album, creatively, musically, and lyrically. Soon enough people will learn that if you expect much of The Flaming Lips, you’re going to be let down. They never do what you think, and that’s one reason they are so damn good.

8. Anathallo – Floating World

Highlight Songs: Dokkoise House (with face covered), The Bruised Reed

These Michigan Boys have done it again. It’s been a while since their last release, but it was well worth the wait. Super-saturation of emotion has been a common thread in my analysis of 2006’s top albums, and this is yet another album that invades that list. It quite possibly could be at the top of the list, and if you have ever seen Anathallo live, you can be the judge. Japanese proverbs, chain clinking, some orchestration, harp, and female vocals aside, this is just another Anathallo album, but they are great at what they do. Four part harmonies, enchanting melodies and countermelodies stacked teeteringly high, atypical percussion, and a horn section reminiscent of nameless fugues and dirges are all still omnipresent and better than ever. In short, the sound sits somewhere between atypical and typical, which I think perfectly describes Anathallo.

9. The Long Winters – Putting the Days to Bed

Highlight Songs: Teaspoon, Ultimatum

I didn’t think the delicate and carefully crafted “Ultimatum” could get any better then the version on the identically named EP in late 2005. Somehow, by way of baring no holds and a mysterious method of “rockification”, John Roderick made this song better. I guess you can do that when you hole up for a year or so like he did to make the new album. And I’m glad he did because if there’s an album I would say defines straight up indie rock and roll at this present moment, it would be Putting the Days to Bed. I really can’t think of much else to say about this album other than the fact that it’s nearly perfectly crafted upbeat rock that will put me (and I hope you too) in a good mood, anytime, anywhere.

10. Most Serene Republic – Phages

Highlight Songs: You’re Not an Astronaut, Anhoi Polloi

This is a tour EP. I didn’t realize it until I was tracking down the artwork to post with this review, at which point I had to add this aside. With 8 tracks and 30+ minutes it might as well be an album, because I’m counting it as one for this list. I haven’t specifically discussed drumming on an album, but I will begin on Phages with the drumming. Frantic, sub-divided, intense, but never excessive. Tony Nesbitt-Larking replaces drummer Adam Nimmo from the previous album and continues to build on the spastic percussion of Underwater Cinematographer. On Arts and Crafts, one would assume Most Serene Republic sounds similar to label definers Broken Social Scene and Stars, and one would assume correctly. But the drum work on this album sets Most Serene Republic apart from the sound they would otherwise be pigeonholed in. This is a truly unique and epic album; keep an eye on Most Serene Republic.

If there is demand, I can make a zip file with all of my 2006 highlight tracks and post it. I do not have time to upload or find links for individual tracks. If you would like the zip file with the 20 highlight tracks, leave a comment and I’ll post it in the near future (It will actual be in the next week if there’s demand, I promise).

yes, i am lazy

2007-01-16T22:54:00.000-05:00

I think I'll have my top 10 of 2006 posted in the next day or two. I may not include the standard album covers and links in the interest of time. I will try to include an mp3 for my favorite song or 2 on the album.

Also coming soon: 2007 is way better than 2006 already. Good stuff has leaked and I'll post a few tracks.

late again, but a post

2006-12-14T07:05:00.000-05:00

So I started this post ages ago, sometime like the 5th or something ... and I'm finally getting around to finishing it.

Someone commented and wanted me to reupload the Sufjan rarities, so that is a coming post. More coming posts include the start of my best of 2007 and then my best of 2006, a little backwards, but you'll have to deal with it. The semester is ending so that's a ton of work and I may have a co-op over Christmas break, but I'll find time to make a few posts between working and writing music with Neal for Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline. We're gong to try to write and record an ep and play some shows, so keep a heads up for dates and maybe a track or two from the ep. In the nearer future, I realized how much I like the demo acoustic recording of "Runner Up" so I'll be doing a little mastering work on that ... a tiny bit of compression and reverb to make it sound a little nicer. That should replace the old version on our myspace in a matter of weeks.

Here's my potential list for best albums of 2006. I'm sure I forgot a few but I'll add/narrow it down to 10 by early January...
Juana Molina – Son
Thom Yorke – The Eraser
Mogwai – Mr. Beast
My Brightest Diamond – Bring Me the Workhorse
M. Ward – Post War
Bob Dylan – Modern Times
Converge – No Heroes
Denison Witmer – Safe Away (Re-Release)
The Velvet Teen – Cum Laude!
Yo La Tengo – I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
Isis – The Absence of Truth
Unwed Sailor – The White Ox
Copeland – Eat, Sleep, Repeat
Jeremy Enigk – World Waits
TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
Chad VanGaalen – Skeliconnection
Beck – The Information
The Thermals – The Body, The Blood, The Machine
Tortoise – A Lazarus Taxon
The Long Winters – Putting The Days To Bed
The Album Leaf – Into the Blue Again
The Format – Dog Problems
The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
Joanna Newsom – Ys
His Name Is Alive – Detrola
Sound Team – Movie Monster
Islands – Return to the Sea
Band of Horses – Everything All The Time
Final Fantasy – He Poos Clouds
Built to Spill – You In Reverse
The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
Liars – Drums Not Dead
Mono – You Are There
Wolfmother – S/T
Loose Fur – Born Again in the USA
The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics
Cat Power – The Greatest
Appleseed Cast – Peregrine
Anathallo – Floating World
Aloha – Some Echoes
Sparrows Swarm and Sing – Oh Shenandoah, Mighty Death Will Find Me

EP’s of note:
Foxhole – Push/Pull
Jesu - Silver
David Bazan – Fewer Moving Parts
Jose Gonzalez – Stay in the Shade

Two weekends ago ... was one those weekends of shows. Thursday was Anathallo and Page France in Baltimore, Friday was Owen, Appleseed Cast, and Copeland in Philli, and Saturday was a Roustabout in State College which was rather unmentionable, except for the playing of The Flaming Lip's Zaireeka (I think that's how it's spelled), which is 8 tracks of 4 simultaneously playing discs. It was none less than breathtaking.

I'm pretty sure Ottobar wasn't allowing pictures, and my camera was not cooperating so I didn't get any shots there. Both Anathallo and Page France were amazing. I try to see Anathallo once a year, and luckily that happened on Thursday, and I was as blown away as I was every other time I've seen them. They mostly played stuff from Floating World which is good, but I really love their older material. I got my wish and they played "Holiday at the Sea" and broke into a verse of Joanna Newsom's "Milk Eyed Mender" in the midst, which was really suprising, but pulled off perfectly. I love Page France for "Chariot" and "Junkyard," but watching the whole set, I got a little bored. Yet, the girl that play keys and does background vocals is really cute. All that said, it was a great show.

[mp3] Anathallo - Don't Kid Yourself You Need a Physician
[mp3] Page France - Junkyard

Then Friday night was Acute, Owen, Appleseed Cast, and Copeland at TLA. This show was beyond words. We missed Owen, Acute was fine for an opener ... entertaining enough. And then Appleseed Cast. No matter what they play, or how many original members remain, their shows are so emotive. They don't really play anything before Low Level Owl much anymore, but the newer stuff is still really good despite falling short in comparison to Mare Vitalis. Copeland put on an awesome show as well. I haven't seen them in years, and I wasn't sure how I'd react to seeing newer songs live and just how they perform in general. I was pleasantly suprised. Stage banter was a little lacking, but the set flowed entremely well and the show was great with the additional lights and backdrops. A couple pictures below of ASC and Copeland ...

I'm going to dip way back in my pictures for a few from the October 7th John Frances, M. Ward and Juana Molina show. M. Ward was great, but I most enjoyed Juana Molina. She plays solo live and builds up the her songs peice by piece with a sample pedal using voice, keyboard, and guitar. I was exteremly impressed with her performance; definitely look her up.

[mp3] M. Ward - Big Boat
[mp3] Juana Molina - Micael
[mp3] Juana Molina - Malherido
[mp3] Juana Molina - No Seas Antipatica

back again

2006-11-02T00:27:00.000-05:00

I’m so sorry to the five or so of you that haven’t given up checking on my blog every week. I’ve dropped the ball, but I’m picking it up and I’m ready to play kickball with you and all the neighborhood kids, so make sure you invite them. As much as I’d be up for it everyday, I think I’ll only dust off the bases once a week or so, maybe twice. Along with the weekly frequency I’m promising you right now, I’ll also promise that posts (or kickball games, if you are still running with that) will be of substance and include 3 or so bands/songs/news items/albums/whatever I feel like talking about. So see you around … On with the post.

Wincing The Night Away leaked about 2 weeks ago. That’s the new Shins album for those of you that think you’re cool enough to not keep track of those sort of things. But everyone is desperately in love with The Shins and has no reason for you to not have new album within your clutches, actually due from Sub Pop January 23. I listened to this record every waking minute for the entire week after I got it, and promptly got extremely sick of it. I actually started telling myself it was so bad that it was probably something thrown together just to leak to the material hungry fans and then make fun of those fans when they thought their new record was so great. I mean face it, The Shins take forever to release new material. But, then I gave the record a rest and forgot all that nonsense and it is great, fantastic, phenomenal, and amazing beyond belief again. I was debating on whether to share the first or second song with you, since they are both so good, and I really can’t think of a better way to start the record than with those two songs … well, “Austrailia” won out against “Sleeping Lessons” and there you have it.

[mp3] The Shins - Australia

Yo La Tengo wants to be your favorite band ever. I feel like I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass sounds loosely reminiscent of older material from the ranks of Belle & Sebastian, Broken Social Scene, The Magnetic Fields, and of course Yo La Tengo themselves. It’s no Summer Sun, and no Nuclear War EP (my introduction to YLT, which turned me off to them at first until I really figured them out), but it lays somewhere beautifully and gracefully balanced between their flat-out weird material and the spaced out days of And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (my favorite YLT record). I just got the record this week after having some older YLT records heavy in my rotation and realizing the idiocy in my ways … so I tracked it down. Nothing has sunk in too much, and the 10+ minute bookends on either end of the album are a little bit of a turn-off, otherwise I really love the album. My favorite song so far has to be “Daphnia,” mostly because it reminds me of And Then Nothing… It’s not really characteristic of the rest of the album; sorry to those looking to find that song. Noting this fact to myself after I typed that and intended to upload “Daphnia,” here’s more representative “Beanbag Chair" instead. .

[mp3] Yo La Tengo - Beanbag Chair

It’s usually your instinct to ignore those friend requests on myspace that look like they are just lame bands employing some stupid scripts to increase their exposure and friends counts. I thought Glassacre was one of those bands, but damn was I wrong. They call new Australia-based web label Hidden Shoal Recordings home. I haven’t had a chance to listen to the other artists on Hidden Shoal but I’m sure I’ll be pleased when I get around to it. The songs they have on their myspace are atmospheric and spacey while still retaining enough of a pop element to catch your ear. I’m keeping an eye on them, you should too.

[link] Glassacre's Myspace

There was some blog buzz surrounding Tokyo Police Club maybe as far back as the spring. And since that buzz, their EP A Lesson In Crime, has sat very lonely in my itunes begging for a listen. Well I finally did a couple weeks ago, and I really enjoy it. I call it Bloc Party meets Ted Leo and that seems to work while not being too accurate whatsoever. See what you think.

[mp3] Tokyo Police Club - Citizens of Tomorrow

And as far as me and making music, there is new material coming. Where There Is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline is a little dormant, but the awesome remix of “Something About Maps” featuring samples from The Joseph Albers Experiment “4” is still up on the myspace. Neal and I have tentative plans to record an EP and do some brief touring this winter and hopefully that will pan out, but I am still saying tentative in front of plans. We did record something about a month ago … nothing formal, but something. We did a collaboration, improvisational piece with Brendan Sullivan under Neal’s temporary solo moniker of Windows, but it’s 45 minutes long. We might burn a bunch to CD-R’s sometime in the future, throw them in some creative home-made packaging, and sell them for a couple bucks. For now, you’ll just have to wait for me to have the motivation to take 2 minutes to make a clip of the piece and throw it on our myspace. There’s another up and coming project I just heard about. A good friend of mine, currently living in Southern California, has asked me if I would like to write some music to back a CD of his poetry. I have no idea what direction this is going, but I’ll keep you posted. I’m currently working on chopping up, sampling, and using a couple little songs Neal recorded himself in his Windows project. One of these finished products will most likely be the first thing you’ll here from me via the Where There Is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline myspace.

yorke

2006-09-14T00:19:00.000-04:00

So The Eraser is old news, but I can't get enough of this album. It is seriously laptop rock at its finest and I wish I could program like this album. All the car windows down, stereo at max, 60 degrees, backroads, and this album. Things can't get much better than this. "Atoms for Peace" is my personal highlight of the album. Yorke's vocals continuing soaring higher and higher, never gaining edge or making their way to the realm of harsh or annoying. The beats and melodies (as with the rest of the album) are so fresh, ethereal, and ... there's a part of it that cannot be explained. Enjoy.

[mp3] Thom Yorke - Atoms For Peace (yousendit uploaded 9/13)

i'm back ... into the blue again

2006-09-12T22:26:00.000-04:00

Into the Blue Again, The Album Leaf's new lp, hit shelves today. It's as brilliant as anything you'd expect from Jimmy Lavelle, and if you liked songs with vocals that were few and far between in previous albums, there's actually more than one. The signature complexly layered tracks, unique and quiet beats, and general synthesized excellence remains from previous albums, growing and progressing in sound only very subtlely. Into the Blue Again is an amazing follow-up to In A Safe Place, and will only further satisfy and impress those who loved the previous album. I'm sure I'll have more to say as my full listens increase from my initial three.

[mp3] The Album Leaf - Always for You
[mp3] The Album Leaf - See in You (Yousendit uploaded 9/12)

Well it's good to be back. I'll most likely start posting semi-daily again now that I finally broke down and posted again. There is a possibility I may start doing an album review once a week as well as posting my regular findings within the music world and mp3s. Hopefully people are still reading this...

the summer continues

2006-07-12T16:00:00.000-04:00

So I've been having a glorious summer working at Philmont Scout Ranch despite no time for new music. What new music I have been listening to has been mostly of the bluegrass/folk persuasion. If your current tastes don't include these genres, I suggest you track some down. I don't really have too many suggestions since most of what I've been listening to has been played be friends/people around. So track down some bluegrass and folk and start listening ... until the end of the summer, Sean.

parting words

2006-05-07T02:57:00.000-04:00

I'm headed off to New Mexico tomorrow, so that means there is a good chance Where There is Fire will be going dormant for the summer (at least until Aug. 22 when I'm back). I'm working at Philmont Scout Ranch on Conservation staff and I'm really excited to be backpacking all summer and getting paid for it. There's a chance my partner in crime musically (Neal from Where There is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline) will start posting duties, but I don't know if I'll be able to fill him in on how to do this via email. The Rescue EP is uploading as I'm typing so that will be available again to everyone who wants it. Otherwise, this is a goodbye, have a great summer, see you in the fall from me. In the meantime...

I'd like to introduce you to an amazing band that calls PSU its surrogate home (while Erie is their true hometown). Jimi Jive (and the Coefficients of Friction) sounds sketchy as a name, but once you listen, all assumptions going along with the name will disappear. I don't know exactly how to describe them, but it will definitely catch your ear.

[myspace] Jimi Jive

Here's a band plug for another project involving my friend Neal. Along with a few other helpers of the art school variety, The Josef Albers Experiment is just that, an experiment. Sound and music aren't written, they are inspired in each moment. Every 20 to 30 minute piece is captured by the mere internal mic of a mac, but sounds completely the opposite, like each instrument was carefully mic'ed and then the fourtrack started rolling, capturing a sprawling lo-fi symphony. One of the "members" is Brendan Sullivan who does his own equally impressive, rather different solo work.

[myspace] The Josef Albers Experiment

[myspace] Brendan Sullivan

And finally Explosions in the Sky's The Rescue EP. And a link to the rare Sufjan tracks I uploaded a bit ago. See the tracklist in this post.

[zip] Explosions in the Sky - The Rescue (rapidshare)

[zip] Sufjan Stevens - Rarities & B-sides (rapidshare)

Signing off, Sean.

a rant

2006-04-18T01:57:00.000-04:00

I just looked at some of the hundreds of comments on the recently closed blog TheIndieConnection. The site used to post whole albums free for the downloading of the general public via rapidshare. I don't know the whole story, but appearantly a band found out about their whole album being posted, got pretty pissed, and a whole shitstorm ensued. (If anybody knows the whole story, I'd kind of like to know.) Anyway, there was a lot of arguing about the ethics of posting whole albums for download in the music community.

I've thought this for a long time ... how is it hurting business if a lot of the people that download these albums are not listening to them that much and wouldn't even buy them in the first place. 99% of the time, if you like something enough that you listen to it consistently, you'll buy it, you'll make an effort to see the band, and you'll buy their merch. Most people don't have the kind of money to throw around that they are going to go buy the more intruiging new releases of the week without really hearing them. For the most part, artists only get a small portion of the actual cd cost and make most of their money touring. As an artist, what's the cost of having your album sit on a computer as mp3s to be sparingly listened to? At most, the album will eventually grow on the listener and they will want to support you. If people aren't going to buy music in the first place, how's business hurt by downloading? Those who only illegally download are still a minority by far. The music business as far as album purchasing is still thriving, but it's obvious the business model is changing. In a hypothetical world without non-purchase downloading, would there be a significant boost in album sales? I think it would be an insignificantly small gain, and exposure would be lost. Hype within the advertising and review domain can only go so far.

People trust their own ears above all.

I'm sorry to go political per-se for a post and forego the mp3s, but I think it's an appropriate topic, especially for those of you reading this, in this niche of music listeners and internet users. I'm neither condoning nor supporting this slippery subject. Just offering my perspective from where I sit, reading the blogs, seeing what goes on, and yes, downloading albums.

I'm up for convincing; comments welcome.

onlelinedrawing live

2006-04-11T16:45:00.000-04:00

Onelinedrawing is more a name for the ongoing musical work of Jonah Matranga than it is a band name. Yes, he did record under that name, but currently he is touring and playing songs from all of his past projects. Onelinedrawing implies limits, but Jonah has none. He's been writing music for over a decade and he's incredibly humble about it. Jonah is no rock star. He just loves playing music and seeing people enjoy it and relate to it.

Seeing him live was amazing. He's been playing solo, no longer associated with a band since Gratitude split. I haven't heard much about why that happened, but he gave the impression that he didn't like being in Gratitude at all. It was too rock and roll or something of that nature. The show was in Alumni Hall (here at PSU), which is huge, so the small crowd spread out in the front quarter of the room. Being such a big room, the presence was great while Jonah still managed to keep the show really intimate. He even brought a battery powered amp outside when they started to tear down. When I say solo, I mean not entirely. For a few songs, he was backed by Jersey emo/punk outfit Pick an Exit. It was cool that they learned the songs, but they weren't really cut out for it.

If you've never heard anything Jonah has touched, you need to. His voice is like nothing I've ever heard before. You need to hear it, trust me. There are more mp3s in the scrapbooks section of his website.

[mp3] Onelinedrawing - We Had a Deal *Highly Recommended
[mp3] Onelinedrawing - A Ghost
[mp3] Far - Man Overboard

Jonah also played a cover of The Deftones' "Be Quiet and Drive" live. If you want to hear a live recording, check out this post on onehundredscenes.

The pictures are pretty good, so i put them at the end of the post so they can be big and don't overlap with the blog links and stuff.
Photos from the Alumni Hall Show (04.07.06):

indie conspiracy theories

2006-04-07T16:22:00.000-04:00

According to certain notoriously unreliable sources, full of pompus "journalists" (a-hem pitchfork) and spread around by some innocent bloggers, Sufjan Stevens and Rosie Thomas are having a baby. Also, the two recorded a collaborative album with Denison Witmer to be released this summer. Well, sorry to get all your hopes up for cute children and uber-folk, but that is what we call a little white lie. Give Mr. Witmer's name a click and see what the first item in his news says, not to mention that he's been telling the funny story about was spoon feeding pitchfork stories at his recent shows. Indie's too uptight, we do need to joke more.

[mp3] Rosie Thomas - Red Rover (feat. Sam Beam)
[mp3] Denison Witmer - 24 Turned 25

Some of you that read this personally know me, and if you do, you may have heard my theory that Sufjan will actually never release another states record. In combination with the announcement of the release of The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album, the info stunt provides all the info I need to try and convince you Sufjan is done with states.

If you can joke about being pregnant, you can joke about making albums for all 50 states. If you release a b-sides record adding on to the all ready hour topping super sucess of an album you released last year, it probably means you don't feel like writing any more songs about states so you'll just record the ones you have and move on. After A Sun Came, Sufjan made a complete genre jump with Enjoy Your Rabbit and it may be time for that again after Illinois. We have not seen an EP release from Sufjan yet, only albums. That's my prediction on what's to come as far as new material: an EP or two. He'll probably explore some different corners of his songwritting abilities and record them with instrumentation done by himself. Afterall, he has been hopping around with the Illinoismakers for quite a while and most of them have their own bands and projects. Several just saw pretty major new releases and could really benefit from some time touring to support the releases.

In conclusion, the 50 states thing is a bulff. He thought it up and ventured to throw it out there that it might be a cool ambition to have and his fans changed that ambition to a burning expectation. Now, I think he just laughs when he's setting up for a show and he hears two fans arguing about whether the next album will be New Jersey or Arkansas (both with their basis in only a single piece of evidence). It's all hype, and I think it's really funny.

[zip] Sufjan Stevens - Rarities & B-sides (rapidshare)

As if that weren't enough Sufjan for the day, I've uploaded a zip onto rapidshare containing all those compilation tracks you really wish you had. To find out about everything he's ever touched, so you can find it all, check out this fansite - All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! The only things not inculded are really old Sufjan associated tracks (like Marzuki stuff), the Chicago remix that was an iTunes bonus track (because it just wasn't that good, and remixes abound ... better ones), live stuff (because there's tons of that and you can find it everywhere) and the 5 Michigan bonus tracks because they only exist in vinyl form, so I think they should only be listened to in vinyl form (I'll only listen to rips if the LP is really hard to find and the songs exist nowhere else, but I have the Michigan 2xLP). In case you missed those links ...

[link] All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! (All the Sufjan info you've ever wanted to know)
[link] Confabulators: Illin'-Noise! Remixes by mcDJ (if you loved Illinois, you'll love this)

These songs are all so good. Sufjan can never dissappoint. If you've only heard one or two, you practically have an entire new album to fall in love with clocking in at 53 minutes of unheard Sufjan. The order I'm assigning is arbitrary - all the tracks have the proper tags for what album they are from and the track number on that album. They are all mp3s of various bitrates unless noted.

01 - I Can't Even Lift My Head [To Spirit Back The Mews]
02 - The Avalanche (AAC) [Illinoise iTunes Bonus Track]
03 - Woman At The Well [8.21 Blue Bunny Compilation]
04 - Opie's Funeral Song [Mew's Too]
05 - Far Physician's Son [8.21 Blue Bunny Compilation]
06 - Variation On "Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion At Magruder Park" [I Am The Resurrection: A Tribute To John Fahey]
07 - God'll Ne'er Let You Down [To Spirit Back The Mews]
08 - She Is [Dream Brother: The Songs of Tim & Jeff Buckley]
09 - The Lord God Bird [All Songs Considered]
10 - All Delighted People [Eye of the Beholder, Vol. 1]
11 - Borderline [Hope Isn't a Word]
12 - Bushwick Junkie [To Spirit Back The Mews]
13 - Damascus [Seen/Unseeen]
14 - What Goes On [This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute To The Beatles' Rubber Soul]
15 - The First Full Moon [To Spirit Back The Mews]

shameless promotion

2006-04-04T16:10:00.000-04:00

I don't think it's too typical for bloggers to post their own music on their mp3 blog, but I'm going to dip into shameless self promotion for a post. I decided to make a myspace for the ongoing project I have going with my friend Neal that has the same namesake as this blog. We started Where There Is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline in the fall of our senior year of high school so we could play a battle of the bands and provide something other than the usual bands that show up at those sorts of things. We wrote one song and did a cover (to never be mentioned again because it kind of sucked). We've collaborated ever since to produce sprawling, epic musical pieces blending many genres including indie, electronic, experimental, and ambient among many others. Hopefully we can get our two polished and 100% complete songs "Runner Up" and "The Apocalypse Will Not Be In Tune" recorded in some manner before I head to New Mexico for the summer, but I don't know if that will happen. Cross your fingers.

Anyway, the song I have up on the myspace is something I started back in February from some samples I decided to play with and pulled out the other week with the goal of actually finishing it. I have too many skeletons of songs just sitting around that just need a lot more work structure-wise. I guess my problem is I'm pretty comfortable and familiar with Fruityloops, but I haven't really mastered it yet, nor have I taken the time or effort to expand my VST plugin and sample library to have the tools to be able to tackle putting what I'm thinking in my head onto the screen. A lot of times ideas don't translate to samples and sequencing so that's a problem too, since I don't own recording gear or have really easy access to any.

Where There Is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline on myspace

Add Where There Is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline to (myspace) Friends

lewis & clarke, not the explorers

2006-03-27T19:51:00.000-05:00

I came upon the track "Bare Bones and Branches," this fall and it struck me as one of the most beautiful and delicate songs I have heard in a long time, while still being extremely poignant and memorable. I searched far and wide for more songs by Lewis & Clarke with no luck whatsoever. I finally have the album, and it turns out it has another track that makes me feel exactly the same way - "Dead and Gone." Lou Rogai is the sole penman of the debut Bare Bones and Branches and I was really impressed to find that this intricately crafted album was largely the work of one man. Once I found out he was from Northeast Pennsylvania, it added a whole new dimension to his music, associating sprawling images in my mind of so many lovely parts of that area with the songs perfectly crafted to accompany these scenes.

This is truly a timelessly breathtaking album. Even if you don't normally follow up with songs you download on my blog, please take the time to look at the website and consider buying the album and/or seeing him live.

[mp3] Lewis & Clarke - Bare Bones and Branches
[mp3] Lewis & Clarke - Dead and Gone (yousendit, expires 4/3)

I happened upon a Black Keys "mini-album advance," as it was labeled (Chulahoma). I wasn't too impressed ... it's typical Keys material with nothing we haven't seen before. There were no hits or anything particularly catchy, but four of the six songs push the four minute mark, which seemed to be about the limit for previous Keys material. I actually like the longest (6:52) best and I've uploaded "My Mind Is Ramblin'" on yousendit. Enjoy!

[mp3] The Black Keys - My Mind Is Ramblin' (yousendit, expires 4/3)

I posted some tracks off The Yeah Yeah Yeah's Show Your Bones a couple weeks ago, and Gorilla vs. Bear recently had a post with Zinner's remix of Gold Lion. It's definitely a noble b-side (from the Gold Lion EP) and I highly recommend it.

[post] Gorilla vs. Bear: Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Gold Lion (Nick Zinner Remix)

i don't know about you ...

2006-03-24T20:09:00.000-05:00

... but I am excited for snakes on a plane. If you haven't heard of this yet, you must live in a hole. Search YouTube to see a bunch of funny fan-made trailers that surfaced before the official trailer was available. Other than the concept of this movie being completely genious, the only other reason I'm posting is because in my searches for more knowledge pertaining to snakes on a plane I found the code to put the trailer on a site. So here it goes...

Get your copy of the player here

forgotten associations ... new loose fur (!!)

2006-03-23T01:53:00.000-05:00

I now remember splitting 'THE EXQUISITE DEATH' and 'saxon shore' shortly after my protective manilla envelope with the distinctive Insond logo arrived in October to find minimal album credits and among them...

VOCAL SAMPLE ON "SILENCE LENDS A FACE TO THE SOUL"
TAKEN FROM: "juterna" by circa urvive courtesy of equal vision records

I didn't make much note of it then, but at the time I had not devoted much attention whatsoever to Circa Survive. Since then I've given them quite a few more listens, as they deserve. Juturna is a solid album that holds steady through all of the failing points that most bands in their genre sphere fall into. I have no idea what song the samples are from - they are so faint it's really hard to tell. "In Fear and Faith" begins with a similar sound to "Silence Lends a Face to the Soul," and that's about the closest association I can make. I'll assume my guess is as right as any other and maybe one day I'll actually find out and be a better man for knowing.

[mp3] Circa Survive - Act Appalled
[mp3] Circa Survive - The Great Golden Baby

Something else major slipped by me this week... Loose Fur's new album Born Again in the USA released this Tuesday. I didn't even know Loose Fur was intended to be a project beyond the first ep. With a complete lack of Wilco news as far as their recent activities (other than the small blip on the radar along with the release of Kicking Television), I didn't think I needed to be paying attention to much of what Tweedy and O'Rourke were up to. I figured anything significant would make it's way quickly thorugh the blog community and I'd know. I guess not. A few of the songs are familiar as Wilco b-sides or Tweedy solo fodder and I'm glad to see them laid out in a formal recording. If you liked the ep or consider yourself much of a Wilco Fan, you need this album.

[mp3] Loose Fur - The Ruling Class (yousendit expires after 3/30 or 25 downloads)

{Graphic above combining Saxon Shore's and Circa Survive's cover art by me ... some quick self photoshop for fun ... and I feel the need to note it here to make up for the 20 extra minutes I spent on it and could have been sleeping}

upcoming releases

2006-03-21T18:24:00.000-05:00

Here's a track from each of the four upcoming albums I noted in my last post plus one more. They are uploaded on yousendit so they will expire in a week. I hope you enjoy these tracks as much as I do and buy the albums when they release.

TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (4/21)

Everyone is waiting for this... After TVOTR's debut Desperate Youth Bloodthirsty Babes exceeding all expectation established by the equally dazzlling first EP Young Liars, virtually everyone who lists "Indie" as one of the genres they listen to hold TVOTR in high regard. Within Indie, it is extremely hard to put a finger on what genre their music is ... it's almost as if they have created a whole new niche of their own. The New Heath Rock EP only added to the anxiousness to hear a new full length as it continued to expand the sound of TVOTR, but still leave so much more to be desired. Other than the leak itself, there isn't much info on Return to Cookie Mountain and it's been hard to determine just how many versions of the leak there have been and what state of mastering each one is in. All complications aside, the new album in any state is what we've all been waiting for - brilliant, soaring, dark, atmospheric, and heavy, the songs are a new, more mature, better than ever TV on the Radio.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (3/28)

Personally, I didn't care for a lot of the tracks on Fever to Tell. But if the last three tracks had been released by themselves I would venture to say it would be the most brilliant EP to be released in the past few years. I loved Maps, Y-Control, and Modern Romance and hoped that newer YYY material would lean in the direction of those 3 songs. Luckily Show Your Bones does just that. Karen O remains more subdued through a lot of the material where I think her voice is showcases so much better. Zinner's pen has matured and moved away from a lot of the gritty, loud songs of Fever to Tell and has created a better album throughout. If you loved the gritty and loud sound of the last album, the new album is not for you, but if you long to hear Karen O and Nick Zinner use their talents in the way most suited to what they have to offer, Show Your Bones will probably be one of your top albums of the year.

The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine (today - 3/21)

Deep Elm to Tiger Style and now Militia Group. Their new home may not seem in character for Appleseed Cast, but it may be able to provide them with the exposure they need to get their amazing talent noticed. It worked for Lovedrug who re-released their debut Pretend You're Alive on Columbia in January. Hopefully, Militia can do the same sort of wonders for Appleseed Cast. As far as the album goes, it is still the Appleseed Cast we know and love. The sound draws from their entire catalogue and continues beyond it with the maturing you can only expect from album to album with a band of this calibre. It seems more polished and up front than their earlier recordings, but it still manages to completely immerse you in sound like the Low Level Owl's managed to do so well.

The Flaming Lips - At War with Mystics (4/4)

There was a lot of accusations floating around when the first single (The WAND) was released that it was a vast departure from their whole previous catalogue. I don't buy it. The album is great and picks up right where Yoshimi left off, in my opinion. There's no soaring anthem like "Do You Realize?" or dramatic first track like "Fight Test," but overall, I like the new album a lot.

The Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops (4/18)

I'm still not sure how I feel about this album after absolutely adoring both Now Here is Nowhere and The Road Leads Where It's Led EP. The sound hasn't changed much, but I still haven't made a verdict on whether the songwriting has improved or not. It's going to take a couple more concentrated listens.

[mp3] TV on the Radio - Playhouses (yousendit - valid until 3/28)
[mp3] Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cheated Hearts (yousendit - valid until 3/28)
[mp3] The Appleseed Cast - Song 3 (yousendit - valid until 3/28)
[mp3] The Flaming Lips - It Overtakes Me/The Stars Are So Big, I Am So Small... Do I Stand A Chance? (yousendit - valid until 3/28)
[mp3] The Secret Machines - Lightning Blue Eyes (yousendit - valid until 3/28)

mogwai recap

2006-03-17T18:08:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, the Mogwai show was amazing. Mogwai themselves were what made the show, everything else was sub-par. Growing opened and I could not decide if I liked them or not. There were a lot of moments that were really tight, but they seemed to always be transitioning to their next theme. Nothing was concrete, but nor did it flow very well. For the most part I felt they were playing on a very elementary level. It was something I could do in my basement with a friend, two guitars, some gritty samples, loop pedals among a collection of others, and a little bit of creativity. When I hear something, I want to be initially perplexed by it and not think to myself that I could do that without much effort at all.

The lighting was terrible (rather dark at times to the point where they actually asked for more light to be able to see what they were doing) and the overzealous addition of fog in cooperation with a bit of distance from the stage made for mediocre pictures. Sonar is basically a warehouse with a stage along one wall and a bar along the side and back. By the end of the night, bottles were being kicked around at everyone's feet. Despite all of this, Mogwai still put on an amazing show and although I highly recommend seeing them, I'm not supporting sonar or growing too much. You can find out where Mogwai is playing shows and look at pictures and setlists from earlier on the tour at mr.beastmap.com.

[mp3] Mogwai - Folk Death '95 (from the new album Mr. Beast)

I also decided to change up the layout a little. I hope you like the new header ... feedback is welcome and appreciated. Otherwise, I've been listening to a lot of albums that aren't actually out yet which I recommend if you can find them now and when the do release ...

TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (4/21)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (3/28)
The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine (3/21)
The Flaming Lips - At War with Mystics (4/4)

sorry for the delay

2006-03-16T17:55:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting over spring break, but I'm back now and I'll try to get a post up at least once a week. A happened upon a whole bunch of Seven Nation Army remixes, some of which were just really terrible and so repetitive ... they all have a heavy dance/drum and bass influence to them. I uploaded some of the better tracks and also included some covers and non-SNA bonus stuff. There isn't much more to say, the tracks are pretty straightforward and worth a listen, so here's the tracklist:

The White Stripes & Adam Freeland - 7th Nation Freeland
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Chris Liebing Extended Remix)
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Falcon Remix)
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (nostalgia 77 remix)
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Slide Remix)
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Tim Deluxe Vs White Stripes)
The Flaming Lips - Seven Nation Army
BONUS: The White Stripes - Blue Orchid (High Contrast Remix)
BONUS: The Raconteurs - Store Bought Bones

[zip] The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army Remixes (yousendit link, valid until March 22)

If you haven't heard, The Racontuers is Jack White's new project. The single is absolutely phenomenal, especially the second song. As with the rest of the indie world, I'm highly anticipating the full length.

Ten Silver Drops, The Secret Machines new album leaked. It's definitely a departure from the first album and I like it but I'm not exactly sure what to think of it. Hear the first single on their site, or if you are resourceful, find the album.

Also, I saw Mogwai over break at Sonar in Baltimore. The show was completely mindblowing. The setlist was perfect ... nearly half of the new album, 2 or 3 from Happy Songs, all the old classics, and of course to close off the encore, "Like Herod". If they are coming anywhere within 2 hours of you, GO SEE THEM! My pictures weren't that good so I didn't want to pollute the post with a few mediocre shots. I may put a few up later.

honeymoon music, anathallo ...

2006-02-28T17:12:00.000-05:00

I saw two amazing experimental/ambient/post-rock bands last Friday night at a free library show. Peacefeather and Niagara Falls both have releases on the Philli label Honeymoon Music (I found out today that they released a Thanksgiving cd, see my old post on Adrian and his amazing music). The merch table had a free 8 track compliation which I'm extremely impressed with. I think I'll continue to keep tabs on Honeymoon and their releases as I have with another great Philli label, Burnt Toast Vinyl, for the past couple years. Nothing but good could come of checking into the websites of both labels every once and a while as they continue to put out great music. The ambient and experimental nature of the show on Friday night reminded me a lot of the loose collective of Burnt Toast musicians and friends Reels of White Softly Flow, most notably containing members of Saxon Shore. Everything about Friday night's show was so epic and driving. The absence of a pre-set sturcture provides an amount of freedom in the music that easily translates into the beauty of something never played exactly as is being unfurled right in front of your ears. Definitely listen to the Niagra Falls and Peacefeather tracks I linked. It is really amazing stuff. Another artist on the compilation that I was thoroughly impressed with was The Amazing Trapeze. The last track of the compilation "This Isn't About Bending Over Anymore, Is It?" sounded live but was epic and I loved it.

All four pictures are of Peacefeather.

[mp3] Peacefeather - Peacekeeper

[mp3] Niagara Falls - Oviposit

Anathallo's new album Floating World is out as of this week if you preordered it. If you didn't, there's a much better chance of finding it in stores since Anathallo struck a management and distro deal with Nettwerk, home of Avril Lavigne, Guster, Josh Rouse, and Sarah McLachlan to name a few. Don't worry about these guys becoming the next pop-punk idols, they'll stay indie as ever, but now with the distro to get the exposure they deserve. The packaging is immaculate, beautiful, and delicate. As with all their releases, Floating World is worth owning almost for the amazing packaging alone. Although you can preview two tracks on their myspace, I'll upload them to yousendit because myspace pretty much sucks, only works half the time, and I'm just not much of a fan. So as yousendit goes, they'll be up for a week and then gone forever.

[mp3] Anathallo - Hoodwink
[mp3] Anathallo - Hanasakajijii (four: a great wind, more ash)

new appleseed cast, wsc, bp...

2006-02-15T18:58:00.000-05:00

I don't really seem to be having the time to post everyday, but I think I'm going to start to try to make a huge ass post once a week with a couple of bands and whatever else strikes my fancy at the time I'm writing.

Last night I saw Washington Social Club at the Crowbar with a couple of local openers (of most note, Bullet Parade, but also The Minor White, and North). It was a fantastic, amazingly fun show with the addition of randomly interspersed audience percussion thanks to Kleeb of Bullet Parade. Both were very high energy sets condusive to much movement. I had a lot of fun and took some pictures when I was not banging on a tambourine or shaking maracas. Here's a sample of some of the stuff my shutter caught:

Washington Social Club (above and the 2 below)

Bullet Parade (2 below)Anything that Bullet Parade has recorded is with their old line up and in my opinion isn't that great. The new band is awesome and will hopefully have an ep or something recroded soon. As far as hearing Washington Social Club, they have a couple live mp3s on their site which I'll link to.

[mp3] Washington Social Club - Are You High (live @ Schuba's)
[mp3] Washington Social Club - Modern Trance (live @ Schuba's)
[mp3] Washington Social Club - Charlie the Russian (live @ Schuba's)

The Appleseed Cast's new ablum Peregrine is due out March 21 on (if you didn't already know, you might not believe this but) The Militia Group. This (like Denison Witmer) was a very unexpected move in my eyes, but the label has great PR and seems to do a great job selling records so this might have been for the better even though Deep Elm and Tiger Style were such great labels. Despite the picture, they have not turned into a metal band and the new album is not a departure at all. Personally I love it. It seems a little polished and upbeat to be an Appleseed Cast album, but the progression of their sound grows on you fast and you find their classic signature sound settling in your ear when it's all said and done. I'll link a download for a zip of the album but it is someone's personal server space ... find it here (link from Indie Surfer Blog). Listen to "Here We Are (Family in the Hallway) on myspace before you get the album.

Show Your Bones (Yeah Yeah Yeah's) has been slowly leaking song by song. And I'm really like what I've heard so far. It definitely better than Fever to Tell which I solely adore for the last 4 songs. If I'm assuming correctly, Karen-O has mellowed out a little, which is so much better in my opinion. The guitar work of Nick Zinner continues to impress me... "Dudley" is the the slower mellower part of Yeah Yeah Yeahs that I adore and "Golden Lion" is upbeat but not to the trashy extent of a lot of the last album and the "Oooo, oo's" are catchy as hell.

[mp3] Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Gold Lion
[mp3] Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Dudley (yousendit link, expires in a week)

65dos, vek, and new voxtrot

2006-02-07T01:21:00.000-05:00

How can 65 Days of Static exist for so long without me knowing. Their sound perfectly blends all of my favorite post rock bands (GY!BE, Pelican, Mono, and Mogwai) into truely epic and amazing soundscapes. Every song is has such a driving element to it that does not repeat from song to song. They truely subscribe to the post rock genre rarely using instruments out side the traditional guitar, bass, drums, and keys. They manage to meld those four seperate entities into one solid, definied, and ethereal signature sound. I can't even choose a favorite song out of the five I'm going to post and I'm definitely considering picking up their latest full length, One Time for All Time, very soon. Check out the music subsection of the media section of their site for a few more mp3s and remixes.

[mp3] 65 Days of Static - Hole
[mp3] 65 Days of Static - I Swallowed Hard, Like I Understood
[mp3] 65 Days of Static - Await Rescue
[mp3] 65 Days of Static - Massive Star at the End of Its Burning Cycle
[mp3] 65 Days of Static - I am Robot

Yet another video I was exposed to this weekend via mtv-u was Tom Vek's "C-C (You Set the Fire in Me). As you can see, he seems to be adorned in a colonial era British soldier's uniform and tapping on his snare drum. He enlists two interesting looking forest creatures as walking tom stands. These little things sort of remind me of the fuzzy little marionettes in The Boy Least Likely To's "Be Gentle with Me" video. Both are really out there sort of videos that pull in an almost child-like imaginative fantasy memory nostalgia. You can find all of Vek's videos on his site. As for his sound, Vek is bound to be the next big thing for mid-fi indie pop. Think John Vanderslice, but not as dark both in voice and overall sound. C-C is the single off his new record We Have Sound and is as catchy as ever. Listen up...

[mp3] Tom Vek - C-C (You Set the Fire in Me)
[mp3] Tom Vek - A Little Word in Your Ear

Voxtrot has a new song on their site from their forthcoming EP. Their sound is definitely maturing and they are improving upon the already amazing Raised by Wolves [EP].

[mp3] Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives

super what

2006-02-06T01:54:00.000-05:00

First off, this is how I feel about the stupid Super Bowl and is also the away message I had up during the damn thing, which I did not watch. I was glad to hear the commercials were sub-par, so I didn't miss anything. It would have been nice if the Steelers lost so I could laugh at all the people crying and/or rioting because they care too much.

seattle is superior to pittsburgh as a city...

this statement has nothing to do with the
(rather meaningless) event occurring this
evening, nor my preference towards which
team i wish to win because, frankly, i don't
care...

so watch those commercials, buy those
products, buy the licensed merchandise, feed
into the extravagant lifestyles of these
"heroes" of the american lifestyle, and yell at
them like they are in front of you and it really
matters what your opinion is - the nfl probably
uses innocent looking polls to figure out which
team will provide a more lucrative victory and
then fixes the game...

the only good thing to become of this
(wretched) american "holiday" is that they
print winning products for both teams so it can
be bought right after the game (three cheers
for capitalism, consumerism), but the losing
team's stuff finds it's way to third world
countries to clothe the starving frames of
people we americans could care less about in
this moment of "great"american history...

Anyway, politics and social justice aside, the bleeding electrical outlet, an image I find quite striking and intriuging, above is from Metric's Moster Hospital video, which I saw for the first time this weekend. Another thing gained from otherwise useless time wasted watching mtv-u was an introduction to She Wants Revenge through their Tear You Apart video dirrected by Joaquin Phoenix. Another strikingly odd, but very well done video. Soundwise they are pretty much Interpol2, but pull it off very well. Search the mtv-u site to watch it. As far as I know, that seems to be the only place you can see it, but I don't feel like associating with mtv to the point of linking them on my blog (sorry to you really lazy people). Back to Metric, their first full length Grow Up and Blow Away was never released due to record label qualms but the songs are floating around the internet and you should be able to find all 11 with some considerable effort. I'll link two of my favorites: Torture Me and Wet Blanket. As far as songs from their newest album, Live It Out, they seem to be keeping a pretty tight hand as far as letting them leak, but I did find a remix of Monster Hospital by mstrkrft that is pretty cool. I'm waiting for their new album as well which looks very promising from what I've heard so far - you can hear some stuff on their myspace. I'll also link Calculation Theme from 2003's Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?

[mp3] Metric - Torture Me
[mp3] Metric - Wet Blanket
[mp3] Metric - Calculation Theme
[mp3] Metric - Monster Hospital (mstrkrft remix)

[mp3] She Wants Revenge - Spend the Night
[mp3] She Wants Revenge - Out of Control
[mp3] She Wants Revenge - These Things
Second and third songs linked from MusicGlob - great blog, check it daily

apollo sunshine pictures

2006-02-03T01:45:00.000-05:00

I finally downsized all the pictures I took of Apollo Sunshine I took at the show January 21 and uploaded them. I made an album on photobucket so take a look. Check my previous post about them for mp3s or visit the site to stream some songs. If you want to see the full size 5mp pics, tell me and I'll link you to where I have them uploaded on my filespace.

[pics] Apollo Sunshine (01.21.2006) in Heritage Hall @ psu

lujo

2006-01-30T17:35:00.000-05:00

I happened upon Lujo Records a couple years ago by chance when I bought The Fall of Troy's S/T. That CD was raw and amazing , especially for only being a three-piece, buy they've since moved on to Equal Vision and their sound went downhill with the move. Lujo is run primarily by one man: Erik Auccoin. He has been continually signing a wide variety of bands with two things in common: innovative sound and a great deal of talent. I recently picked up a bunch of releases from the sale on the website and I wanted to post to highlight some of my favorie artists on the label. There are some odds and ends on the Myspace site, but all of the mp3s I'm posting are from the media section of the website which I will link...

[link] Lujo Records media section

Suffering and the Hideous Theives is the the project upon which Jeff Suffering has been dwelling for the past couple of years. Suffering has found a much more mature and distinct sound then he ever had in previous bands Raft of Dead Mokeys and 90 Lb. Wuss which is definitely a change for the better. The sound is vastly indie with a certain twinges of alt country and folk. Although I have not heard the new release, Ashamed, the previous Rats in Heaven was simultaneously beautiful, epic, and excruciating. Soundwise think of a rougher, more brutally honest Ryan Adams mixed with aspects of Sufjan Stevens and Starflyer 59. That's the best I can do at describing them. The octave paired vocals in this song "The Potters Field" are one of my favorite moments of the record as well as parts of a semi-traditional rendition of "Amazing Grace" clocking in at 11:40.

[mp3] Suffering & The Hideous Theives - The Potters Field

Aforementioned The Fall of Troy put together an amazing debut for Lujo. This is probably some of the best hardcore of any sub-genre that I've ever heard. Amazingly complex rhythms and guitar and bass lines completely fill this record and there is never a lapse in the brutal talent.

[mp3] The Fall of Troy - The Circus ...

Now defunct Ateriavia pulled me in with a song that was never released anywhere that I know of and I'm guessing it was on the Lujo site ages ago for download called "Why are You Allergic to Bees, Bees are so Awesome;" you can hear and download that song on their Myspace. I'm pretty sure all of these guys were under 20. They had a really awesome sound going somewhere between At the Drive-In and Q and not U that I'm sure could have taken off with a little more touring, blood, sweat, and tears. I'm sure they had other things they needed to do with their lives, but I'm glad they at least released their EP Regarding the Midwest: Sleeping.

[mp3] Ateriavia - This Sierra Classic is of a Prestigious Fleet

I picked up the LP of The Evaluation's We Built the Gun That Causes This Unending Fear for a mere $3 when MakeBreak Records called it quits and cleaned out the closet. Now they are going the way of the buffalo too with their last show next week. In the same vein as MeWithoutYou, The Evaluation crafts catchy, but edgy songs and retains a distinctive sound.

[mp3] The Evaluation - Texas, Texas; No Tennessee

"Heart Like Locamotive" is infectiously catchy. It's the kind of song you can hear on the radio and have no idea who it is but still know all the words and the main guitar riff. Verona delivers straight up rock with the soaring vocals of Kyle Logghe that pull you in and make their 50 minute debut, Rumored to Whisper Suspicions, seem like 30 and having you wishing for more.

[mp3] Verona - Heart Like Locamotive

The Kidcrash pulls off pop-punk like they've released at least 5 albums. New Ruins has super slick production and songs catchy enough to be mistaken for the likes of Jimmy Eat World, but still holds a great deal of appeal for those who don't usually listen to the genre.

[mp3] The Kidcrash - Your Valley Is Our Volcano

Check out the rest of the Lujo Artists at the media page or their myspaces in the sidebar of Lujo's. If oddity is your thing, give Baby Teeth and Gena Rowlands Band a listen. Lujo has also made a bunch of releases for bands with quieter and acoustic material that is all really good. I recommend In Praise of Folly, Dame, and Hidari Mae.

rescue revisited

2006-01-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I uploaded The Rescue EP by Explosions in the Sky. It has disappeared from the portion of the Intraweb accessable from my blog and since EITS said it was perfectly okay to share the EP in a statement on their website by merit of it being such limited release (Travels in Constants Series or they had a few on their European fall tour), I decided to reupload it on Rapidshare. Enjoy this awesome EP and long awaited (kind-of) new EITS material. The songs are shorter, as are the song titles (Days One-Eight) and it's a little different from any of the previous albums but still retains the signature EITS sound.

[zip] Explosions in the Sky - The Rescue

Also, The Secret Machines released the first single for their new album Ten Silver Drops earler in the month. Find more details on Pitchfork in the news section (the only thing it's good for). You can find a link to the single, Alone, Jealous, Stoned, on a post from earlier in the month on LiveMusicBlog.

[mp3] The Secret Machines - Alone, Jealous, Stoned on LiveMusicBlog

lumping

2006-01-24T17:06:00.000-05:00

I'm going to lump a lot into on post today. Apollo Sunshine played here at PSU on Saturday night and it was an amazing show. I took a lot of pictures which I'll upload somewhere as soon as I take the time to do that. I'll throw a link in whatever post I'm on when I get around to that. Apollo Sunshine apparently just lost their fourth member, but they played an extremely lively and ecclectic set as a three-piece. You can stream songs from their new self titled on their site and I'll link two older songs. I was thoroughly impressed with them even though I hadn't heard of them before hearing about the show. It was organized by SOMA (students organizing multiple artforms) and I am slowly infiltrating the group and we might try to pull in Saxon Shore sometime this spring since I'm building their following here at PSU and everyone I introduce seems to love them. Also on that bill may be The Cassettes, from DC, but this is all still in it's very preliminary stages. Otherwise in the music world, I'd seen the name Akron/Family thrown around a bit this year in some best-of's and otherwise, but it wasn't until today that I took some time to dig up some mp3s and listen. It's kind of odd stuff, but that's expected when you are on Devendra Banhart's former label, Young God Records. Give them a try - it's all over the place musically, like you are bouncing back and forth between the last several decades, but by all means, that's a good thing. Especially since I'm starting off a classic rock kick that may continue well into the spring, but I don't think I'll be posting any Yes on here; I'll try to remain uninfluenced in what I post.

[mp3] Apollo Sunshine - I Was on the Moon

[mp3] Apollo Sunshine - May Day Disorder

[mp3] Akron/Family & Angels of Light - Dylan Pt. 2

one week until the greatest

2006-01-17T16:36:00.000-05:00

Next Tuesday I will have my hands (and ears) on Cat Power's The Greatest. Matador has been keeping a tight fist over the blogging and music trading community and I have not seen the album leaked in entirity yet, but you can now stream it on myspace. That player is always so finicky though, I still haven't heard the whole album. Before I heard tracks from the stream, I had heard The Greatest (you can download the title track on Matador's website), Hate (on the B-side of the 7" single that was released December 7 for $.99), Living Proof, and Where Is My Love (the only 2 other tracks I could find which I'll upload as a zip if anyone would like them). Here's the tracklist:

01 The Greatest
02 Could We
03 Lived In Bars
04 Islands
05 After It All
06 The Moon
07 Living Proof
08 Empty Shell
09 Willie
10 Where Is My Love
11 Hate
12 Love & Communication

[mp3] Cat Power - The Greatest

[zip] Cat Power - Living Proof / Where Is My Love (link pending)

Stream the album from myspace

I finally got Castanets First Light's Freeze as a birthday present today. I'm on my second listen as I type and it's only getting better. I've posted a song before but check out this old post at You Ain't No Picasso for another.

[post] New Castanets Songs (9.21.2005)

more projects, ratatat

2006-01-14T20:38:00.000-05:00

I got this sweet Moog t-shirt today and I'm pretty excited about the whole concept of owning a Moog shirt, let alone wearing it. Later on in the course of this lazy Saturday, I jammed with some people today since I'm back up at school and did the majority of my work during the week because as it turns out, the prof's assignments on Monday/Wednesday pretty much covered the next week worth of class. That gives me a three day weekend with very little work and that was a great use of my time. I'd say it's a little jazzy (cello and jazz, kind of a wierd combination), but prepare for your ears to be taken by storm with a whole new genre if we ever decide to play and you're in the State College area. The one guy is the drummer in the semi-local band Bullet Parade, which I may start to play with, but they seem pretty serious about getting non-local shows on weekends which would kill my grades if I went through with that. I would not have the motivation to buckle down and do extra work during the week.

Moving on to music you can download and not some boring anecdotes, I've had quite a few "hey, listen to this" run-ins with Ratatat this week. Drum machine, keys, and guitar in the indie fashion. It's infectiously catchy, but get all the Postal Service comparasons / expectations out of your head now because you are about to hear something else. Guitarist Mike Stroud played back up guitar for Dashboard Confessional and Ben Lee as they toured until he and his bandmate Evan mast got a proposal to release a record on XL Recordings. Reading interveiws, I also found out he played in Pony Express for a short time. I assume this is the same Pony Express that released their collection of EPs and singles, Oddballs, this year. But obvioulsy, just about anything is better than having to deal with the "emo"ness of Dashboard and the record was made. No need for vocals and weird Dntel antics of sampling, this is straightforward in terms of the technical realm. Their S/T released last spring and their website says they are working on another, so I'll be anticipating. There are also remixs in the audio section of their website that are worth a listen and a laugh.

[mp3] Ratatat - Seventeen Years

more albums for 2005

2006-01-13T14:43:00.000-05:00

I really feel the need to denote my 11-20 for 2005 because there were some amazing albums that didn't make the first cut. So now I've posted my top 20 albums of 2005 a while ago but there are many more albums that deserve note in alphabetical list form ...

20. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
19. Iron & Wine/Calexico - In The Reins
18. Elliott - Photorecording
17. Dr. Dog - Easy Beat
16. Discover America - Psychology
15. Denison Witmer - Are You A Dreamer?
14. The Books - Lost and Safe
13. New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
12. Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Collection of Eggs
11. Jose Gonzalez - Veneer

The Album Leaf - Seal Beach (Rerelease) [EP]
Antony & The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die
At The Drive-In - This Station Is Non-Operational
Beck - Guero / Guerolito
Ben Lee - Awak Is The New Sleep
Between the Buried and Me - Alaska
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm / Silent Alarm Remixed
Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
Bright Eyes - Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness
Castanets - First Lights Freeze
Clemsnide - The End of Love
Copeland - In Motion
The Dandy Wharhols - Odditorium or The Warlords of Mars
David Gray - Life in Slow Motion
Death Cab for Cutie - The John Byrd EP / Plans
The Decemberists - Picaresque
Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
Dios Malos - Dios Malos
Doves - Live at Eden [EP]
Early Day Miners - All Harm Ends Here
Engineers - Engineers
Explosions in the Sky - The Rescue [Travels in Constants EP]
The Fiery Furnaces - EP
The Frames - Burn the Maps
Great Lake Swimmers - Bodies and Minds
Half-Handed Cloud - Thy Is A Word & Feet Need Lamps
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
Jacks Mannequin - Everything In Transit
Kinski - Alpine Static
Low - The Great Destroyer
M. Ward - Transistor Radio
The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
Mice Parade - Bem-Vinda Vontade
Minus the Bear - Menos el Oso
Mogwai - Government Comissions: BBC Sessions
Most Serene Republic - Underwater Cinematographer
The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
My Morning Jacket - Z
Neva Denova - The Hate Yourself Change
Pelican - The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw / March Into The Sea [EP]
Pony Express - Oddballs
Red Sparrowes - At The Soundless Dawn
Richard Swift - The Novelist / Walking without Effort
Ryan Adams - Cold Roses / Jacksonville City Nights / 29
Saxon Shore - Luck Will Not Save Us From a Jackpot of Nothing [EP]
The Secret Machines - The Road Leads Where It's Led [EP]
Spoon - Gimmee Fiction
Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
Steel Train - Twilight Tales from the Prairies of the Sun
Voxtrot -Raised by Wolves [EP]
Wilco - Kicking Television
Xiu Xiu - La Foret

Albums I hated: Wolf Parde, Rogue Wave, Of Montreal, Kayne West, Sleater-Kinney, Franz Ferdinand, The Boy Least Likely To, I'll more more as I think of them (if I remember both the album for long enough and to edit this post)

The Flaming Lips released their new single "The WAND" today. Someone was kind enough to upload it on YouSendIt so you and I can hear it without having to surrender a buck whenever it makes its way onto iTunes. It sounds pretty much like classic Lips, but of course with a twinge of ever evolving oddness. It's not as initially catchy/poppy as you'd expect a single to be, but it is growing on me. DoCopenhagen had this link up so check out his blog. He often has a lot of good stuff on there daily.

[mp3] The Flaming Lips - The WAND

no class: thanksgiving

2006-01-12T16:23:00.000-05:00

The beauty of the first week of classes is I have no class this Thursday since there is no way to have a physics quiz in the first week, so I have time for a pretty meaty post. Over the past couple of months, I have come to realize that The Glow: Part 2 by The Microphones is the sort of record everybody should have listened to and fell in love with at some point in their life. The progression into Mt. Eerie has only provided a new proving ground for the musical and writing abilities of Phil Elverum, despite what pitchfork has to say about No Flashlight (remeber - it was in my top 10). Elverum has also recorded for people other than himself ... namely Adrian Orange aka Thanksgiving. You can feel the tinge of Microphones/Mt. Eerie sound in Thanksgiving's material, but it's fresh, less dark (musically, almost poppy in some cases), and obviously a whole seperate entity/artist. Someone exposed my friend Neal to them at art school and he's mentioned them quite a few times ... I've just never had the initiative to hunt down some of Adrian's material until very recently. There's definitely quite a big tinge of the mid-fi Microphones sound, semi-monotone vocals, and very non-traditional percussion, but this guy has it all laid out to really make a name for himself. Thanksgiving really sits in a genre almost by itself that has essentially remainded under the radar to a lot of people who I'm sure would fall in love with this sound. I'd really love to see it explode in the indie scene, but one guy with one opinion isn't going to change much ... so listen up. Thanksgiving is touring like a fiend this spring so get out and see him. Look at the site for tourdates (Phili + Baltimore are on there for any local folk reading this).

The tracks you can download from his label, Marriage Records, are completely untagged and if you're like me that is a problem. I'll put the title, album, and track number behind each mp3 so you can be just as anal and properly tag your music too. The "A:" will denote the album the track is on and #/# is the track number out of the total tracks

[mp3] Thanksgiving - Dead Dear & Other Animals
A: Thanksgiving 6/24
[mp3] Thanksgiving - (you belong to the) blood
A: Cave Days and Moments 6/12
[mp3] Thanksgiving - Ageism
A: The River 2/10
[mp3] Thanksgiving - Track 3 (off with yr hats)
A: Nothing 3/10
[mp3] Thanksgiving - Before You Died
A: We Could Be Each Other's Evidence 1/11
[mp3] Thanksgiving - Now It is All Over
A: Now It's All Over Like the Birds
[mp3] Thanksgiving - The Ghost and the Eyes

Thanksgiving @ hivestudios.net

I just bought Mark Kozelek's If You Want Blood a 2xLP that is mostly completely reworked AC/DC covers. It's essentially the predicessor to Tiny Cities in my mind and I can't wait until my preamp ships so I can listen to this. After I bought it, I went on the label's site and saw that it's completely sold out for online ordering until restocks come back from records stores. I'm glad I'm the only one in State College who likes Mark Kozelek enought to buy this, otherwise I might have to pay up on eBay which doesn't even show a copy being for sale at the moment.

[mp3] Mark Kozelek - Up To My Neck in You
[mp3] Mark Kozelek - Love At First Feel

Another enormous find of the day (!!!) :
I was looking through the r5 website that puts together tons of shows in the Philly area and first I see The Books at the bottom of the screen. I just about freaked out when I saw that because I've really gotten into The Books big time this year and they've managed to creep their way into my top 10 favorite bands of the time being. I look up at the date and it's a Saturday so I get even more excited, now knowing it would be completely feasible to make it to a Philly show on a weekend as long as I'm caught up with my work. So I regain my composure and scroll down ... Jose Gonzalez is opening and The Books are going to have a full video backdrop playing during they're set which has the potential to be really mindblowing. This may be the most perfect show of all time. I'm extremely excited for this.

The Books
Jose Gonzalez
Death Vessel
Saturday, March 27th 7:30 PM $12
The International House, Philidelphia PA

jose+joanna

2006-01-11T15:25:00.000-05:00

There were two albums I could not stop listening to over break: Veneer and Milk-Eyed Mender. There's so much substance in both of these that I found myself getting completely immersed. First it was the music; both Joanna Newsom and Jose Gonzalez are amazingly talented musicians, but both also comprise equally impressive lyrical counterparts to their arrangements. If you want to say otherwise about either, I'll just say it outright: you're wrong. If you haven't heard Jose or Joanna, start now.

[mp3] Joanna Newsom - Peach Pear Plum

Jose Gonzalez @ myspace.com stream 4 songs from Veneer

break

2006-01-09T16:04:00.000-05:00

I did not take any pictures at the show on Friday so here's an alternate. I was just playing with my camera down on my neighbor's farm. They are in South Africa for a while and I was helping my sister take care of their dogs. It was screaming for me to take pictures so I took my camera over one day.

I don't have too much to post about amidst the bussle of the start of the semester so I'll just like to the the two bands Neal and I played with on Friday night. Sorry Where There Is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline doesn't have anything recorded ... we're too lazy. But listen to both of these bnads. The Art of Abandonment was some fun hardcore stuff if that's your thing and Mike of Passenger is a truely amazing songwriter. I hope he can go somewhere with his talent.

Passenger @ Purevolume

The Art of Abandonment @ Myspace

winter break, etc.

2005-12-28T11:59:00.000-05:00

This was my Christmas present ... I love it. The Leica lens is amazing - 12x optical zoom and it's capable of keeping an f value of 2.8 all the way through that range. It's got a 5 megapixel CCD and optical image stablilazation. I'm really excited to get to a show with this thing and see how well it does. When I do, some of the pictures are definitely going up on here (maybe some video too ... I'll have to see how well that feature works).

In other news, my friend Neal and I are back to working on some new material under our old moniker Where There Is Fire We Will Carry Gasoline. Obviously that line is also the namesake for this blog and comes from a line in the movie Waking Life which is one of my favorite movies. Once we've done some recording I'll put some stuff up on a myspace so keep your eyes open for that. If you've heard us play before (I doubt you have since we've only played about 5 times) expect more post-rock ambient goodness. I'm working with a lot of samples from some songs Neal recorded over the summer and it's looking very promising. We've set up sort of a makeshift practice studio in my newly finished basement and hopefully I/he can be very productive down there in the next couple days.

I have a video of the first time we played that I may upload at some point. I just need to find the miniDV tape ... I have no idea where it is. It's just one song, but it is one we are planning on recording a version of. In addition to the Korg Triton, guitar, and cello we used in our previous stuff, we're adding my laptop with fruityloops, the casio SK-1 (with it's prehistoric, but still really sweet, sampling abilities), a bowed psaltery, bass, and possibly some acoustic guitar action. So it should be pretty eclectic.

In other news, both Neal and I are excited to get our hands on the new(er) Castanets album First Lights Freeze but sadly enough neither of us have yet. I also have completely re-fallen in love with The Notwist's Neon Golden all over again. This is an album I used to listen to every once and a while but seriously neglected for the past year. I am foolish for doing so. It is an amazing album that truly stands apart from anything else.

[mp3] Castanets - All That I Know

[mp3] The Notwist - One with the Freaks

more ideas, less music

2005-12-19T23:55:00.000-05:00

So it's been a while since I last posted, let alone take part in some of my usual semi-daily rituals like scouring others blogs for new music and downloading albums off rapidshare. Sorry if I let anyone down ... there won't be too much downloadable music in this post, merely an anecdote. "Home" has transferred itself from State College back to York for about a month as of last week, and I've been finding quite a bit to occupy myself with, hence the lack of posting.

On with the anecdote ... A bunch of friends gathered in this one kid's basement for nostalgia's sake (since we spent quite a bit of time down there on weekends in high school). We were playing pool, sitting around, catching up, and spinning some vinyl. I believe someone threw Demon Days on and then the next person in line for choice of tunes pulled out The Black Keys 10 AM Automatic 7" and forgets to switch the speed to 45. So it's playing slow and we're all confused, I yell at him to switch it up, and it slides up to speed. Commotion ensues and then someone asks what 33 1/3 record we'd want to hear at 45. Somehow, 3 of us simultaneously responded with Sigur Ros - ( ). Then we started listening to a bunch of stuff sped up and slowed down... Things like Iron and Wine - Woman King (faster) and The Secret Machine - Girl from the North Country (slower). It was a night of novelty. You should try it too - or just speed up and slow down the mp3s with the software of your choice.

[mp3] Sigur Ros - Untitled 4 (njosnavelin)

Maybe if I get bored later this week I'll upload a sped up version.

best of 2005

2005-12-09T18:15:00.000-05:00

There aren't many days left in 2005 and it seemed to me it was time for the list. This isn't the sort of thing you can procrastinate on ... so I devoted many hours of thinking to this today and arrived at my conclusions (the studying for finals can go on hold for a bit, it's not like I haven't started or anything). There are quite a few albums that did not make the cut and those that did I absolutely adore. And I'm going to keep reminding you about the winter mix(es).

01 || Saxon Shore || The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore

[mp3] Saxon Shore - The Revolution Will Be Streaming

Buy at Insound || Amazon

02 || Broken Social Scene || S/T

[mp3] Broken Social Scene - 7/4 Shoreline

Buy at Insound || Amazon

03 || Sufjan Stevens || Illinos

[mp3] Sufjan Stevens - Chicago

Buy at Insound || Amazon

04 || Sigur Rós || Takk

[mp3] Sigur Rós - Hoppipolla

Buy at Insound || Amazon

05 || Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah || S/T

[mp3] Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah - Lost and Found

Buy at Insound || Amazon

06 || American Analog Set || Set Free

[mp3] American Analog Set - Immaculate Heart 1

Buy at Insound || Amazon

07 || Mount Eerie || No Flashlight

[mp3] Mount Eerie - I Hold Nothing

Buy at Insound || Amazon

08 || Animal Collective || Feels

[video] Animal Collective - Grass

Buy at Insound || Amazon

09 || Doves || Some Cities

[ecard] Doves - Black and White Town / Snowden / Walk in Fire / Sky Starts Falling

Buy at Insound || Amazon

10 || Sun Kil Moon || Tiny Cities

[mp3] Sun Kil Moon - Convenient Parking

Buy at Insound || Amazon

forget indie kids, emo kids - i'm a post rock kid

2005-12-08T16:03:00.000-05:00

When The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore was released back in October, It was all I talked about and listened to for weeks. Seeing Saxon Shore live over the summer was such a mindblowing experience - they have progressed and matured so much in their sound while never losing their signature. If I had an mp3 blog in October, it's probably safe to say that every single post I would have made in that month would have been on Saxon Shore. They have been slowly expanding their arsenal of instruments and soundmakes of all sorts over the past few years and it is completely for the better. The quartet that once utilized just guitars, bass, and drums on Be A Bright Blue has now come to master anything and everything that can make a sound and incorporate it into their sprawling soundscapes. Every song on the new record is no dense, completely filled out with sound, and beautiful. Some people accuse them of jumping on the post rock train and following the likes of Mogwai (new album forthcoming, I'm excited about that), Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Sigur Rós, or just somewhere in the midst of all that. I see no imitation here whatsoever.

Saxon Shore has truly found the niche of where their perfect sound is and they're running with it. I hope in gets them somewhere ... the new album has been charting in the top 200 on CMJ since its release and it would be really awesome for them to take off for their own sake and Burnt Toast Vinyl's. BTV is one of my favorite indie labels and Scotch Hatch who runs it seems like such a great guy from the couple times I've talked to him and the all quality releases he's put out. I bought the Luck Will Not Save Us From A Jackpot Of Nothing EP over the summer which only made me more anxious for the release of Exquisite Death... . There was a slight chance that Scott would be selling the new album then if the duplication and priniting company was running on schedule but it unfortunately was not, so I sadly had to wait until October.

Give Saxon Shore a listen and hopefully you'll completely fall in love with all their just as I have. Please support them and buy the new cd from Insound. And at this point I think I'll name it as the album of the year. I'll round out the top 10 some time before the years end and post the other 9, but for now ...

[BEST RELEASE OF 2005] Saxon Shore - The Exquisite Death Of Saxon Shore

[mp3] Saxon Shore - The Revolution Will Be Streaming
[mp3] Saxon Shore - April 14
[mp3] Saxon Shore - Amber, Ember, Glow
[mp3] Saxon Shore - Replacement Driver
[mp3] Saxon Shore - Live on 8/23/03

-- more mp3s + tour dates @ Saxon Shore's Myspace

Don't forget about the winter mixes ... I'm going to keep posting reminders at the bottom of every post from now on.

[post] winter mix(es)

another forgotten song

2005-12-07T17:20:00.000-05:00

[post] winter mix(es)

Josh (who writes The Infinite Pet -- highly reccommended) reminded me of Sufjan Steven's "The Avalanche," a bouns track off Illinois. It totally slipped my mind to go in with the obviously winter-theme titled songs. So add this one to the end of mix 2. I used megaupload again since it's easy, efficient, fast, and convenient; I hope you don't mind.

[aac] Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche

... and what I titled this post (without much thinking) is completely, inadvertantly related to my last post. There is an album of reworked, lyrics added Six Parts Seven songs called Lost Notes From Forgotten Songs. Sam Beam of Iron & Wine does a beautiful remake of "Sleeping Diagonally."

[mp3] Sam Beam - Sleeping Diagonally

6x7

2005-12-06T12:53:00.000-05:00

I'm kind of dissappointed in myself. I did not include any Six Parts Seven songs in my winter mix when Everywhere and Right Here is probably one of my favorite, if not my top, winter albums. So here's a song ... tack it on the end of the first mix as the 17th song and it will then be the perfect winter mix. But perfect is a high goal to aspire to, oh well, I tried. (It will also work in the third one.)

[mp3] The Six Parts Seven - This One Or That One?

I didn't mean to bump the winter mixes from the top. They are still there, keep looking and listening... download them!

v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v

winter mix(es)

2005-12-05T19:33:00.000-05:00

I had a request to make and upload a winter mix from a friend and I went a little overboard. I started to put songs on a playlist and there were just way too many so I ended up with 3 seperate mixes. The first will remain untitled and is simply songs that I personally associate with winter. There are stories/events behind some of them, others make me feel wintery, and others are just inexplicable. If you have a problem with a song not being wintery enough, take it up with my left temporal lobe or something like that - I don't remember too much from psych. Second is songs that actually containing winter, snow, ice, or something wintery in the title. Third is more winter titled songs, but they are all instumental. The Do Make Say Think song doesn't have the title attributes but it is from Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn so I guess I could have included the whole album, but I picked one. Most of the the songs are mp3s but some are AAC, so if you don't use iTunes, get it. The zips are on megaupload as usual, so pardon the ads, but it's fast for uploading and downloading. So...

[zip] winter1 - (winter mix)

01 | Devendra Banhart - At the Hop
02 | Copeland - Coffee (Connect Sessions Acoustic)
03 | Trail of Dead - Counting Off the Days
04 | Sufjan Stevens - Dumb I Sound
05 | The Album Leaf - Over the Pond
06 | American Analog Set - The Postman (Remix)
07 | Ben Harper - The Drugs Don't Work (Live, Verve cover)
08 | Red House Painters - Trailways
09 | The Shins - The Past and the Pending
10 | Lewis and Clarke - Bare Bones and Branches
11 | Denison Witmer - Chestnut Hill
12 | Coldplay - Careful Where You Stand
13 | Elliott - Believe
14 | Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Min (w/Strings)
15 | Death Cab for Cutie - Passenger Seat
16 | Iron and Wine - Communion Cups and Someone's Coat

[zip] winter2 - winter, obviously: snow, ice, winter

01 | Stars - What the Snowman Learned About Love (Remix)
02 | Anathallo - Snowman
03 | Pedro the Lion - The Longest Winter
04 | Bob Dylan - Winterlude
05 | Kerith Ravine - A Lament for the Snowtunnel
06 | Belle and Sebastian - Winter Wooksie
07 | Aireline - Winter Song
08 | Damien Rice - Eskimo
09 | Doves - Snowden
10 | Modest Mouse - Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice On Ice, Alright
11 | Eisley - The Winter Song
12 | Foxhole - A Lion in Winter / Long Live the King
13 | Havalina Rail Co. - Winter
14 | The Mountain Goats - Snow Owl
15 | Clap Your Hands - In This Home on Ice
16 | Elliott Smith - Angel in the Snow

[zip] winter3 - winter, instrumental

01 | Explosions in the Sky - Snow and Lights
02 | Kinski - The Snowy Parts of Scandinavia
03 | Unwed Sailor - Snowcaps
04 | Mono - Lost Snow
05 | Do Make Say Think - Outer Inner and Secret
06 | Pelican - Last Day of Winter

rip ibl

2005-12-03T19:22:00.000-05:00

Earlier last month, Imaginary Baseball League called it quits. The good news is they now have their 3 releases posted for download on their site. This is yet another band that should have made it big but never did. They have such a commanding presence in their songs that rings with talent and (should have been) success. I found them about two years ago in a links section of some other band's website that I had stumbled upon through yet another links section. But right now you are probably asking yourself a more important question like, "Why don't I know this band if he's talking about them like I should." Consider yourself introduced. Beautifully crafty songs, catchy upbeat ones, and quieter others, just listen for yourself. For the longest time, I listened to the 4 songs they had posted for download off their newest album, Revive, and really wished I could motivate myself to buy the cd, but I never did. I guess good things come to those who wait. "Fat Boys are not Athletes" and "Statistics" are two of my favorites. Download away ...

-- mp3s (Revive is a zip) of all IBL's material @ IBL's website

my favorite ep ever

2005-11-29T21:34:00.000-05:00

Anathallo's Holiday at the Sea EP is probably my favorite EP ever. It is seriously verging upon the best 18 minutes of music ... ever. I took the picture I posted at Purpledoor 2004. At this year's festival they played a cover of The Book's "Smell Like Content." I think they are about the only only band ever pull off a Books cover. They can't even play the song I'm posting live because there are parts that are too high. Matt(?) had not fully become a man when they recorded it. Keep your heads up ... they have a split with Javelins that came out November 18 and only 300 were pressed. If you see one, get your hands on it.

[mp3] Anathallo - Don't Kid Yourself, You Need A Physician

[mp3] Javelins - I Was Raised As A Polar Bear

[mp3] The Books - Smells Like Content

-- more mp3s @ Anathallo's Purevolume

I started this post last night and didn't get around to publishing it today. I'll try to keep the entries coming this week ... but it's the two weeks before finals - then home!

home, turkey, shows

2005-11-26T01:26:00.000-05:00

I'm home in York for the long Thanksgiving weekend and I didn't think I'd get to update ... but I'm forcing myself. I went to see a local favorite, Kingsfoil, at a local coffee favorite, Sparky and Clarks. This duo (+2 sometimes) is really something to talk about. I'm talking good in just general terms of all there is to listen to out there, not just local terms. Definitely listen to the songs they have on their Purevolume page (and fall in love with their sound).

-- mp3s @ Kingsfoil's Purevolume

Ryan Asher opened for Kingsfoil and I must say I was impressed. He is an excellent guitar player, has a voice with both presence and warmth, and played memorable songs, both his own and covers (ala Coldplay, Radiohead... which seem cliche but he pulled them off extremely well). He was giving out the last couple of his EP's in exchange for signing up for his mailing list since he's anxiously awaiting the finishing and release of his forthcoming album. I have yet to listen to the EP, but I'm sure it's good. I'm going to post a zip; I hope you appreciate the publicity, Ryan.

[zip] Ryan Asher - Conscious Universe

The record I am listening to at the moment is The Old Canes - Early Morning Hymns. I downloaded the two songs they have on their site almost immediately after hearing about the Appleseed Cast sideproject. I fell in love with "Face It" and "Taxi on Vermont," but I couldn't find the cd anywhere and I wasn't so desperate as to order it online. Finally on a trip to Soundgarden in Baltimore, I happened upon it. Amazing cd ... highly recommended.

[mp3] The Old Canes - Face It

[mp3] The Old Canes - Taxi on Vermont

eits... and r2

2005-11-21T20:56:00.000-05:00

Explosions in the Sky everyone should already know. Everything they have put out is amazing and if you can't just jump right into these sprawling post-rock symphonies often verging on 10 minutes try the Friday Night Lights soundtrack which is a little is another band that more accessible and largely original music they composed strictly for the movie. Their most recent release has been The Rescue EP, a part of the Travels in Constants EP series on Temporary Residence. The EP was only available to subscribers to the series and EITS took a limited amount on their European tour to sell. So obviously eBay is an option for obtaining an actual copy but that might get pretty expensive. EITS has said on their website that since The Rescue was such a limited release, it's fine with them if you want to download it. So I uploaded it to the same place I used for the bss. It's pretty fast, I like it, and I think it's going to be what I use whenever I upload anything to link in this blog. Pardon the ads; that is what's paying for your ability to download.

[zip] Explosions in the Sky - The Rescue

Also, to steal from Sixeyes, I really like the stuff he posted by The Vertical Struts. I'm not exactly sure if there is some unwritten blog etiquette stating that it is an absolutely indignity to step on someone else's blog-turf; I'm going to try and see if I don't get smitten or anything. Anyway, it has kind of the same vibe/idea (being a guitar/drum two-piece) as the Black Keys, but a little more modern and accessible I think - less bluesy, a little more straight up rock and roll.

[mp3] The Vertical Struts - Stab, Stab, Stab

[mp3] The Vertical Struts - Girlfriend Boyfriend

[mp3] The Vertical Struts - Sh!

And by the way, R2D2 is a complete jerk. I was watching Revenge of the Sith last night and I realized it. C3PO's memory gets wiped but not R2. He knows Darth Vader is Luke's paternal figure and he never tells him! What an ass!

i hate pitchfork

2005-11-18T15:23:00.000-05:00

Pitchfork gave Sun Kil Moon Tiny Cities a 3.0. I was enraged when I saw this. People like those damn writers are exactly what is wrong with indie right now. They think their taste in music is absolute and if they says it sucks than it's truly terrible and vice versa. Fuck Pitchfork, Mark Kozelek is an amazing musician that crafts both his own and others songs into subtle, hushed, beautiful soundscapes.

Pitchfork Review of Tiny Cities

[mp3] Sun Kil Moon - Ocean Breathes Salty

more collectivism

2005-11-18T11:41:00.000-05:00

James McAlister (middle) has been busy with things other than Ester Drang lately. He's been on tour with Sufjan Stevens (right) for quite a while as the percussion section of the Illinoisemakers. He also played drums on Denison Witmer's (left) cd Are You a Dreamer? released this summer on Militia Group. To further the connections both Denison and Ester Drang have made numerous releases on Burnt Toast Vinyl out of Phili, which happens to be an amazing label run by an amazing guy, Scott Hatch. Technically McAlister is in Ester Drang who I thought was all but dead for quite a while after not really updating their website. I was going to be sad if Pleasure Themes and Get Rich Schemes was their last release I heard in a while. I bought the Circle of Birds ep over the summer and that held me over for a bit since Ester Drang contributed largely to that along with Unwed Sailor, David Bazan, and others . But Ester Drang is alive and well and announced at the begining of October that they will release their new album, Rocinate, January 24 on their most recent home - Jade Tree. That's so long to wait for more Ester Drang. Come Back Alive is the first track off the forthcoming cd and Repeating the Procedure is song off one of my favorite albums ever, Goldenwest, but the version I have posted is slightly different than the album version and is off of a 7" split with Antenna Lodge.

[mp3] Ester Drang - Come Back Alive

[mp3] Ester Drang - Repeating the Procedure

[mp3] Denison Witmer - The 80's

[mp3] Denison Witmer - California Brown and Blue

[mp3] Sufjan Stevens - Casmir Pulaski Day

[mp3] Circle of Birds - Old Ironsides

we hate your hate

2005-11-17T12:40:00.000-05:00

Brendan Caming, Kevin Drew, Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Andres Whiteman, Jason Collett, David Newfeld, Feist, Emily Haines, James Shaw, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Ohad Berchetrit, Martin Davis Kinack, Jo-ann Goldsmith, Torquil Campbell, John Crossingham + guests Julie Penner, Jason Tait, K-OS, and Murray Lightburn. If you and roughly 20 of your closest friends got together and made some music, no matter how talented you are, I'm sure it wouldn't even compare to Broken Social Scene. Of course, if you consider yourself at all indie you already know and love BSS. I just felt like putting a song or two up since I've been on quite a BSS kick for a while. First, I love the version of Major Label Debut off the ep that came with the new album [mld (fast)] and second is a song off of Beehives which is a b-sides collection of some sort. I swear that nearly half of the people that have ever contributed to any Arts & Crafts release are on the new BSS in some form...

[mp3] Broken Social Scene - MLD (Fast)

[mp3] Broken Social Scene - Backyards

indie and pop are getting along today

2005-11-16T18:48:00.000-05:00

I had seen some plugs on a few different blogs for Voxtrot, but didn't pay too much attention to them since I usually find most indie pop thrown at me just too infectious or boring for repeated listens. This is different; way different. A friend told me to find the EP my first listen consisted of 3 consecutive listens. I cannot wait for an album.

[mp3] Voxtrot - The Start of Something

I'm not the first one to rave about Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, but it was just yesterday that I decided that I should probably at least hear them frist before writing them off. I was pleased with my decision. All the songs of both EP's are catchy without verging on obnoxious and the sound isn't anything all that new, but it's a little unique/diferent ... you'll just have to hear it. Hopefully whoever's server I found this on doesn't mind me linking to it although I have 0 readers at the moment ...

[mp3] Suburban Kids with Biblical Names - Teenage Poetry